Hyderabad: In a major gaffe, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Nimmakayala China Rajappa, in-charge of home affairs, on Monday named a rape victim in the AP Legislative Council and also divulged full details including her husband’s name, occupation, age and caste.
The details thus became part of the AP Legislative Council’s official proceedings. None of the members, including women members who had raised the issue of growing atrocities against women, noticed the mistake or objected when the minister identified the victim.
The minister was reading out a statement in response to TD members Nannapaneni Rajakumari, P. Samanthakamani, A. Lakshmi Siva Kumari and Balashali Indira, who had called attention of the home minister, under Rule 70, on the growing atrocities on women.
However, while mentioning two recent incidents in Hyderabad and Cyberabad, he gave out the details of one of the vic tims the action taken by the two police commissionerates. It may be mentioned here that the AP government has no executive authority over Hyderabad, which is part of Telangana. The minister mentioned the two rape incidents that had sparked protests from several political parties and women’s organisations, seeking severe action against the culprits.
Section 228 (A) of the Indian Penal Code, which was amended, prohibits mentioning the name or disclosure of the victim’s identity in rape related offences. It also states that those violating the rule shall be punished with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to two years and shall also be liable to a fine.
Last year, on March 1, the then Union home minister, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde, had named a victim of a rape incident in Rajya Sabha, which was expunged at the intervention of the then Leader of Opposition, Mr Arun Jaitley. Following this Mr Shinde had apologised to the Rajya Sabha.
