A case was filed against 38 Indian celebrities, including Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgan, for revealing the identity of a gang rape victim on social media, according to a report of The Times of India.
A Delhi-based lawyer filed the case against the Bollywood, Tollywood and other film industries' stars which included Nakul Preet Singh, Anupam Kher and Farhan Akhtar under Section 228 of the Indian Penal Code, the report says.
According to the IPC section, the disclosure of identity of victim of certain offences, including rape, is punishable with imprisonment of a term that may extend to two years and a fine.
“Whoever prints or publishes the name or any matter which may make known the identity of any person against whom an offence under section 376, section 376A, section1 376AB, section 376B, section 376C, section 376D, section 376DA, section 376DB, section 376E is alleged or found to have been committed (hereafter in this section referred to as the victim) shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years and shall also be liable to fine,” read Section 228A of the IPC.
The lawyer urged immediate arrest of the celebrities as they failed to maintain the victim's privacy.
In November 2019, two truck drivers and their two accomplices gangraped a 26-year-old girl from Hyderabad and later killed her by setting fire, reported the TOI.
According to the report, the culprits were arrested and confessed to the crime. However they were gunned down by the police in an encounter while they tried to escape from the police custody.
Many Bollywood celebrities had taken to Twitter to express their outrage about the incident, according to the report in in India Today.
Khan tweeted: "These are the worst kind of shaitans (demons) disguised in the human form! The pain, torture and death of innocent women should now get us together and put an end to such shaitans who live among us, before any other innocent woman and their family go through this extreme agony and loss as this has to be stopped.
"Let Beti Bachao not be just a campaign. This is the time to let these demons know that we all stand together. May her soul rest in peace."
Varun Dhawan tweeted: "... We as Indians discuss and are passionate about so many things. The entire country needs to come together and stop rapes from happening. Why is it that girls can be harmed to easily why. Why aren't these evil b******* not scared of the law? Right now the only focus has to be on making sure this girl and her family get justice."
