Reportedly a day after the Coimbatore district police issued a statement requesting people to not circulate the videos related to Pollachi sexual assault case, the Madras High Court ordered that all the videos be removed from the internet. Meanwhile the order came from the Madurai bench of the High Court, on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by one Ilamugil from Trichy in which he stated that social media plays an important role in our daily lives.
Furthermore explaining that though social media has many benefits, it has a lot of disadvantages too, Ilamugil submitted that videos, pictures and audio files related to sexual offences are being circulated on social media. Apparently his petition also stated that the Supreme Court has ordered that the identity of the victim in sexual crimes shall not be revealed in the FIR, court documents or in the media and the violation of this rule shall invite punishment under section 228A of the IPC which indicates an imprisonment for a period of 6 months to 2 years.
Moreover expressing hope that suitable departmental action will be taken on those who disclosed the identity of the survivor, including the SP, the court advocated for proper awareness to be created amidst people regarding videos and internet services in sexual crimes. Perhaps the judges also ordered that the school textbooks must include content on the pros and cons of internet, and transferred the case to the principal bench of the Madras High Court in Chennai.
