NEW DELHI: The SC has said there should be a complete ban on publication and telecast of even morphed images of minor rape survivors to protect their privacy even as it restrained media from broadcasting images and interview of the minor girls who were allegedly raped in a shelter home in Bihar .

Taking suo motu cognisance of the alleged rape and sexual abuse of 30 minor girls by the chief of a state-funded NGO which was running the shelter home in Muzaffarpur, a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta sought explanation from the Bihar government and expressed anguish over the media conductive “insensitive” interviews with them in utter violation of norms. It was brought to the court’s notice by a Patna-based activist, Ranvijay Kumar.

The bench said the media has been virtually forcing the rape survivors to “relive the trauma again and again” and this must be stopped. It said government agencies should also be restrained from directly interacting with the girls.

Referring to the restraint observed by the media in Thailand during the rescue of 12 boys and their coach from a flooded cave, the bench said no one came to know about their identities till the operation was over.

“It is disgusting... Any interaction with the victims by investigating agency or any other government agency including child rights bodies must be done by professional counsellors or child psychologists,” the bench said.

Additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta and advocate Aparna Bhat, who was appointed amicus curiae to assist the court, echoed the court’s sentiment and pleaded it to step in to protect the interests of the minor victims.

“In the name of freedom of expression, we cannot expose our children who are already under trauma. Why should they be interviewed at all by the media. Media should also be barred from interviewing parents of the victims as it also exposes the identity. Children have right to anonymity and it must be respected by all,” the ASG said.

