NCPCR Summons Facebook India Head Over Rahul Gandhi’s Instagram Post Disclosing Identity of Rape Victim’s Kin

New Delhi : The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked Facebook India head, Satya Yadav, to appear before it at 5PM on Tuesday (August 17) via video conference to explain what action it has taken against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Instagram profile for sharing a video disclosing the identity of the family of a minor girl who was allegedly raped and killed in Delhi earlier this month. Notably, Instagram, a photo and video-sharing social networking platform, is owned by Facebook.

Earlier on Friday, the apex child rights body had asked Facebook to take action against the Instagram profile of Gandhi for posting a photo of the family of the nine-year-old victim in southwest Delhi, saying it violated the law.

In a letter to Facebook on Friday, the Commission said it has come across a video posted on the Instagram profile of Gandhi wherein the identity of the victim minor girl’s family has been disclosed. “In this video the faces of the father and the mother of the deceased girl can be clearly seen, which is in violation of the prescribed provisions of law”, it added.

Last week, the Wayanad MP met the family of the nine-year-old girl and asserted that he is with them on the path to justice and “will not back down even an inch”. Later, he posted a picture of his meeting with the girl’s parents on Twitter and wrote in Hindi, “Parents” tears are saying only one thing their daughter, the daughter of this country, deserves justice. And I am with them on this path to justice”

Following this, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) wrote to Twitter, asking it to take action against the handle of Gandhi for posting the photo of the family.  Acting on the complaint, the microblogging site blocked the account of Gandhi. Twitter has said it has followed due process as Gandhi’s tweet on the family of the victim was against its rules and the law