CPJ asks police to refrain from filing charges against rape interview

05 January, 2013

The Committee to Protect Journalists has requested authorities in India to desist from pressing charges against a media group that allowed the telecast of an interview with the male friend of the Delhi gang-rape victim who died due to severe medical complications last week.

THE DELHI gang-rape case raised a firestorm in Delhi, many parts of India, and several countries and attracting global media atention.

"This is an instance of greatly misplaced priorities. Authorities are hardly protecting the victim's rights by retaliating against news media that are bringing to light details of the horrific crime that claimed her life," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "Police should immediately drop their misguided plan to file charges."

In an interview with Zee News broadcast today, the man, using an alias, spoke of the brutality of the crime as well as the ineptitude of the police response to the victims, who were dumped by a roadside. Zee's interviewer referred to the man as Abhimanyu, comparing him to the hero from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Police said Zee would still be charged under laws pertaining to disclosure of identity in a rape case.

New Delhi police said they would charge the broadcaster under section 228(A) of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with the disclosure of identity of victims of certain crimes, including rape, according to The New York Times. A conviction could carry a penalty of up to two years in jail, local media reported.