Omar apologises for disclosing names of rape victims

Srinagar (PTI) - Under opposition attack, Chief
Minister of north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir Omar
Abdullah Friday tendered an unconditional apology for
revealing the names of rape victims in the last five years in
the state Assembly.
"I tender an unconditional apology. There is a deep
sense of shame over revealing the names of the victims," Omar
told the Assembly.
The issue was raised by opposition leader Mehbooba
Mufti, who accused the government of stigmatising the victims
by revealing their identities in the Assembly. She said it was
in contravention of section 228 (A) of the IPC and Supreme
Court ruling on the matter.
CPM MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami also supported Mufti on
the issue.
The Chief Minister assured the House that such incidents
will not be repeated. He said the Supreme Court ruling should
not have been violated.
"Under what circumstances these details have been
revealed, I will look into it and will come back to the
House," he said.
The Jammu and Kashmir government had on Wednesday made
public the names of hundreds of rape victims in the state.
The list of names and residential details of the victims
were made available by the Home Ministry, headed by the Chief
Minister, in the Legislative Council.
The details were given in reply to a question by MLC
Subash Chander Gupta.
The CPI(M) had Thursday criticised the state government
for disclosing the identity of rape victims and termed the
move as "secondary victimisation" of the women.
Tarigami had also asked the government to apologise to
all the rape victims in the House.
"It is not only dissolute and unethical but it means the
government has ruined their left over dignity and honour in
society. Simply, the government has ruined their lives," he
had said.
Tarigami had said the government by disclosing the names
of rape victims not only has degraded the honour and sanctity
of the House but also acted in contempt of the Supreme Court
which has categorically banned disclosure of their names even
after their death.
Advocate General Ishaq Qadri had said that the Indian
Supreme Court in its several judgements had ordered that names
of rape victims should not be mentioned.
"This is about the judiciary, I am not sure whether this
applies to the executive also," the Advocate General had said.
The details showed Jammu and Srinagar account for the
highest number of rape cases in the state.Jammu had registered
150 cases since 2006 and Srinagar 120 during the same period.
A total of 1,326 rapes cases had been registered in the
state since 2006.
However, only one person had been convicted during the
last five years, the government reply had said.
Bulk of the rape cases are sub-judice or are under
investigation.