HYDERABAD: Hyderabad city police booked BJP MLA M Raghunandan Rao on the charges of revealing the identity of the victim in the Jubilee Hills gang rape case. The case was registered by the Abids Police under Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code late on Monday.
The case was booked following Raghunandan Rao’s press conference during which he displayed a video clip and screen grab images of the incidents in a Red Mercedes Benz car in which the 17-year-old victim was taken around by a group of four youngsters, before she was shifted to another car, an Innova, in which she was, according to the police, raped by five youths
The Section 228A specifies punishments for identifying any person against whom an offence under Section 376, Section 376A, Section 376B, Section 376C or Section 376D is alleged or found to have been committed. The punishment under Section 228A, if found guilty, is imprisonment of up to two years and a possible fine.
The city police have also booked cases against two others, who shared the video clip on YouTube.
Raghunandan Rao had been under fire for his press conference and showing the video clip and pictures. But he defended his action saying that as a practicing lawyer, he understands the limitations in sharing information in cases relating to minors involved in the crime, or that of minor victims of sexual assaults.
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