KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has quashed a criminal case against two nuns who allegedly disclosed the identity of a rape victim by sharing her photo with the media. Cancelling the case against Sr Amala and Sr Annie Rose, the court said there was no intention on the part of the nuns to disclose the identity of the victim. Kuravilangadu police, which registered the case alleged that nuns gave the photo of the victim of a rape case allegedly involving Franco Mulakkal to three mediapersons through email.
Though the nuns’ counsel submitted the said email was a private communication and was not meant for publication, the prosecutor argued that even a private communication between two individuals, that too with mediapersons, disclosing the identity of the victim would fall within the ambit of Section 228A of the IPC.
While the petitioners wanted the mediapersons to publish the report, they did not disclose the name or the identity of the victim. Therefore, the contents of the report as such do not fall within Section 228A, the court ruled.