Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were issued notice by Delhi High Court for revealing the identity of the eight-year-old girl, who was raped and killed in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The court issued notice to social media platforms after their Indian subsidiaries told the bench that they were not the concerned entity to reply to the court’s notice on the issue.

“You have done a great disservice to the nation. India has been branded… It is an injustice to the nation and to the victim’s family. This kind of publication is not permissible,” a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Hari Shankar said on Friday.

The bench also said messages and images were circulated on Whatsapp showing India in a bad light. It also observed that the entities cannot absolve themselves for the illegal activities on their websites and the law was the same for everyone.

It also asked the counsel for the foreign entities to take instructions as to how much they were willing to deposit to the Jammu and Kashmir Victim Compensation Fund as compensation for the victims.

The bench also stayed the proceedings initiated by the Press Council of India (PCI) under the Press Council Act against some of the media houses for disclosing the identity of the child victim in the rape case.

PCI has initiated the proceedings on receiving a reference from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting regarding the suo motu cognisance taken by the High Court in the Kathua rape case.

The court listed the matter for further hearing on May 29.

On April 18, The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed 12 media organisations to pay Rs 10 lakh each as compensation for disclosing the identity of Kathua rape victim.

The court had also indicated that it may enhance this amount, which has to be deposited in the Jammu and Kashmir Victim Compensation Fund. The media houses had apologised before the court.

Later, the bench added several other media houses and websites and asked them to pay the amount and file their response as to why action be not taken against them for disclosing the identity of the rape victim.

The court had directed that wide and continuous publicity be given to the statutory provisions of the law regarding the privacy of victims of sexual offences and punishment for revealing their identities.

While Section 23 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act lays down the procedure for the media to report cases of sexual offences against child victims, Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) deals with disclosure of identity of victims of such offences. The penal law provides for jail term of two years with a fine.

Read more | SC transfers Kathua gangrape and murder case to Pathankot

The eight-year-old girl from a minority nomadic community had disappeared from near her home in a village near Kathua in Jammu region on January 10. Her body was found in the same area a week later.

The state police’s Crime Branch, which probed the case, filed the main charge sheet against seven persons and a separate charge sheet against a juvenile in a court in Kathua district last week.

Also read | Kathua rape-murder case: Accused to file fresh petition in SC, seeking CBI probe

The charge sheet revealed chilling details about how the girl was allegedly kidnapped, drugged and raped inside a place of worship before being killed.

(with agency inputs)