Video Of Minor Gangrape Vicitim's Police Statement Surfaces On YouTube

It was a crucial piece of evidence, confidential, secret and supposed to be under lock and key in a police station. However, it found its way to a public platform – YouTube—and was used by a gangrape accused to claim innocence.

The accused, a hotel owner in central Delhi’s Paharganj area, played in court the video of the minor girl giving her statement to the police to assert that he was not named by the girl, exposing serious lapses in the victim protection system in cases of sexual assault, reported The Indian Express.

After he was questioned by the shocked Tis Hazari court judge over the source of the video, “the accused claimed through his counsel that he had found it on YouTube.”

The minor girl was gangraped by three to four men, including an acquaintance, at a hotel in central Delhi’s Paharganj area where she had gone to meet her acquaintance in November.

“Astonishingly, it is a matter of great concern and requires a probe as to how the video of the victim got uploaded on YouTube. The investigation agency may also look into the issue as it has the potential to frustrate the whole object of protection of victim as emphasised in POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) and such legislation.”

Before the protection of Children From Sexual Offences Act was passed in 2012, cases of child sexual abuse were dealt under a wide array of section under the Indian Penal Code, including Section 377 that defines rape, Section 376 that spells out punishment, Section 377 on unnatural sexual practices, usually against boys and Section 354 that criminalises acts that outrages the modesty of a woman or girl.