In a crass and insensitive tweet, Tamil Nadu BJP IT cell head CTR Nirmal Kumar posted a video of the 19-year-old Dalit woman from Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district, who was gangraped and died earlier this week. The video clearly revealed the woman’s identity, which is in violation of guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court. In the tweet, Nirmal Kumar even went on to claim that the video was ‘proof’ that the woman’s tongue was not cut, contrary to some claims on social media, as she directly recorded her statement with the police.
The 19-year-old Dalit woman was raped and strangulated by four men in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh. The woman also suffered injuries to her spinal cord and she succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday morning.
In his tweet, CTR Nirmal Kumar said, “This is the video of Hathras victim. She speaks fluently and her tongue was not cut. Neither mentions anything about rape. Italian Mafia always does cheap politics on innocent people.”
The Supreme Court in 2018 had barred identities of rape and sexual assault survivors from being disclosed to avoid stigma and potential tampering of evidence in the case. The Supreme Court said that the identity should not be revealed in print, television or social media.
Contrary to Nirmal Kumar’s claims, the woman in the video clearly says that the men forced themselves on her, and when she refused, they strangled her. However, the BJP leader has not removed the post from his social media account yet.
As he faced a backlash, he tweeted, “Intention of my tweet was to carry the truth which most of the media failed yesterday. Requesting all media and opposition not to politicise such incidents and please don't come to a conclusion before an official statement from government or police.”
The woman died in Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday. She had suffered multiple fractures, paralysis and a gash in her tongue in the horrific assault that drew parallels to the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape. Her body was brought to her village in Uttar Pradesh around midnight. The victim's family alleged that the police officials cremated the body at night without the family's consent.
(With IANS inputs)