New Delhi: The Delhi Police Tuesday booked AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj for allegedly revealing the identity of a minor rape survivor.
An FIR has been lodged at the Janakpuri police station on the basis of a written complaint submitted by Praveen Narayan, a resident of Barakhamba Road in central Delhi.
The FIR comes almost a month after Bharadwaj and his AAP associates highlighted the case of a minor being raped inside a private school in west Delhi. The AAP leader had invited the parents of the survivor who had earlier alleged that the police was not proactively working on the case.
Following the FIR against the alleged rapist, he was granted bail by a Dwarka court. Bharadwaj had criticised the bail to the accused and alleged that there was no strict police action being taken in the case.
According to the FIR against Bharadwaj accessed by ThePrint, he had allegedly disclosed details about the minor rape survivor on his official Facebook account, AAP’s Facebook page and during a press conference. “During the press conference he revealed details about the chronology of events, the name of the minor’s school, class and age that reveal the identity of the minor,” states the FIR.
Addressing a press conference, Bharadwaj said: “This is a school (referring to the school where rape happened) where it was reported that there were 60 CCTV cameras, yet all 60 were found to be non-functional. There is no evidence of the alleged rape because all the CCTV cameras were not working, and the government is trying to suppress this fact. Now, in response, the government has filed a case against me, accusing me of revealing the victim’s identity. I do not even know the victim’s name. I don’t know who the victim is, so how could I disclose their identity? I do not know the victim’s name, mother’s name, or father’s name. I have no information about the victim’s identity whatsoever.”
The FIR also says that not only were Bharadwaj’s actions unlawful, they also impact the mental and physical safety of the minor. “Despite being a senior political leader, Saurabh Bharadwaj has dealt with the matter irresponsibly and shared sensitive information publicly,” reads the FIR.
The complainant further requested the police to take action against Bharadwaj and his AAP associates.
Taking cognisance of the complaint, the Delhi Police booked him under section 72 of the BNS (publish any information that reveals or makes known the identity of victims involved in certain sexual offences), sections 74(3) of the JJ Act (unauthorised disclosure of a minor’s identity) and section 23(4) of the POCSO act (disclosure of a child victim’s identity in media).
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
