Notices sent to Amit Malviya, Swara Bhasker for revealing Hathras victim's identity

The National Commission for Women has sought explanation from Bharatiya Janata Party IT cell chief Amit Malviya, Congress leader Digvijay Singh and actor Swara Bhasker for allegedly revealing the identity of Hathras victim on Twitter.

The National Commission for Women has also directed them to immediately remove these posts and refrain from sharing such posts in future.

"@NCWIndia has served notices to @amitmalviya @digvijaya_28 and @ReallySwara seeking explanation on their #Twitter posts revealing the identity of the #Hathras victim along with a direction to remove these posts immediately & to refrain from sharing such posts in future," the NCW said in a tweet on Tuesday.

In separate notices to Bhasker, Malviya and Singh, the NCW said it has come across several Twitter posts wherein the picture of the victim of the alleged gang rape incident was used.

"In view of the above, you are hereby required to provide a satisfactory explanation to the Commission on receipt of this notice and shall remove and refrain from transmission of such pictures/videos on the social media as they are widely circulated by your follower which is prohibited by the existing law," the NCW said in the notice.

A Dalit woman was allegedly raped in a Hathras village by four men on September 14. After her condition deteriorated, she was referred to Delhi's Safdarjung hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.

She was cremated in early hours, with her family alleging the local police forced them to conduct the last rites in the dead of the night.

Local police officers, however, had said the cremation was carried out "as per the wishes of the family".

The incident led to protests across the country with people from different sectors demanding justice for the victim.