Delhi: 3 FIRs filed after rumors of gang rape survivor's suicide

On Wednesday, the woman was allegedly abducted and gang-raped by at least 11 members of her neighbouring family in east Delhi.

Three more first information reports (FIRs) were registered in connection with the abduction, gang rape and torture of a 21-year-old woman after the Shahdara district police found that a few social media accounts since Monday morning were spreading rumours that the survivor had died by suicide.

Police said the posts also gave the incident a communal colour in an attempt to incite violence. (Representative image)

Police said the posts also gave the incident a communal colour in an attempt to incite violence. Apart from that, a YouTube channel posted a video in which the identity of the victim was disclosed. All these posts were so widely circulated that they forced the city police to issue a clarification on its social media accounts that the woman was fine and that she had not made any attempt on her life.

On Wednesday, the woman was allegedly abducted and gang-raped by at least 11 members of her neighbouring family in east Delhi.

“Some people were spreading rumours and misinformation about the 21-year-old victim and the sexual assault incident. They were sharing the identity of the victim and also trying to give the incident a communal angle. We have identified the social media accounts and two separate cases have been registered against them for rumour mongering,” deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram tweeted.

The DCP said the two FIRs were registered under Indian Penal Code sections 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 505 a and b (public mischief) against two Twitter handles -- “SukhPreet Slatch and Star”.

“The third FIR has been registered under Section 228A IPC against one Madan Lal for disclosing the identity of the woman in his YouTube video,” Sathiyasundaram said.

The police said they will soon write to Twitter, seeking details about the persons who were using the two handles.

Police extend help to woman and family

Senior police officers said after learning that the family was struggling to make ends meet, as their sole earning member, the woman’s father, was bedridden, the Delhi Police has promised her 17-year-old sister a three-month computer course under the police’s Yuva scheme along with a stipend of ₹5,000 a month till the course is over.

After completing the course, she will be employed as a contractual data entry operator at the Shahdara district police, the DCP said.