Graphic Images of Kolkata Doctor’s Rape, Murder On X: What Do The Rules Say? (2024)

The tragic case of the post-graduate trainee doctor, who was brutally raped and murdered while on duty at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, has taken a disturbing turn as graphic images of her body are being circulated on social media platform X.

The young doctor's body was discovered on Friday in the seminar hall of the chest department, showing severe injuries. The initial autopsy report confirmed she had suffered a violent sexual assault.

The disturbing visuals, which primarily show the mutilated face of the doctor, have been widely shared on social media, intensifying the already heightened public outcry. Activists and doctors across India are staging protests both online and on the ground, demanding justice for the victim and accountability for those responsible.

X accounts sharing disturbing photos

BOOM found at least 12 accounts sharing the disturbing visuals with hashtags demanding speedy justice for the victim and her family. Some accounts used the photos to emphasise that the initial claims of suicide were completely made up, while others called for "capital punishment" for the perpetrators.

Notably, the father of the 31-year-old doctor was initially told that his daughter had died by suicide. The Assistant Superintendent and Head of the Chest Medicine department at the state-run hospital have been summoned to explain why the woman's family was informed so.

"I Just Want To Ask Is This Suicide? Do Suicide Look Like This? If This Won't Make Your Blood Boil Then What Will?", read on of the posts.

"Such a big and horrible incident happened in front of our eyes why they have not taken any action till now we want these rapists to be crossfired (SIC) in front of the public," read another.

At least four verified accounts have been found sharing these images. While most of these accounts have consistently posted photos of the nationwide protests related to the incident, some are also calling for the resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her government of "covering up information".

As per the recent update, the Calcutta High Court has ordered that the identity of the victim in the RG Kar Medical College incident must not be disclosed in any way. The Court has also instructed the media not to publish any photographs of the victim.

The Supreme Court in 2018 had also laid down an absolute bar on any kind of media (electronic, print or social) to publish or air the names or any material which may even remotely reveal the identity of victims of sexual crimes. The court was not persuaded by arguments advocating for the disclosure of a deceased sexual crime victim's identity, even if it would be used as “symbol of protest or treated as an iconic figure”.

The Delhi High Court had directed the same, in 2018, after the identity of the eight-year-old girl who was raped and killed in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir was revealed on mainstream media channels and social media. The media companies had maintained that referring to the girl by another name or non-publication of her photographs or redacting them from photos of the agitations, “would not have done justice to the victim”.

Strongly disagreeing with this stand, the bench had said, "The long term consequences of revealing a victim’s identity are drastic and detrimental to the victim and her family."

What do the X rules say?

This is not the first instance of X, previously known as Twitter, being flooded with images of deceased individuals.

In 2020, images of deceased actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s body were widely circulated on the platform shortly after his death by suicide. These photos were shared alongside numerous conspiracy theories surrounding his death.

The Maharashtra Police's cyber department described this as a "disturbing trend" and urged people to stop sharing the images, warning that distributing such content could lead to legal consequences.

The dignity of the deceased and the vulnerability of survivors were called into question again in the same year when a disturbing video surfaced on X. The video showed a toddler crying over his grandfather’s body, who was reportedly killed in crossfire in Sopore, Kashmir, while he was out buying milk.

The video also depicted the boy crying in a J&K Police van, while officials attempted to comfort him with biscuits and chocolates. As the video gained traction online, many criticised the police for exploiting the child's vulnerability by recording the distressing moment.

A similar trend was noticed in 2021 when some hate posts on X celebrated Reuters photo-journalist Danish Siddiqui's death, while sharing photos of his mutilated body. Siddiqui gained international recognition for his coverage of major events, including the Rohingya refugee crisis, the Delhi riots, India's migrant worker crisis during the pandemic, and more recently, the second wave of COVID-19 in the country.

Within five hours of Siddiqui's death making headlines, BOOM discovered that over a hundred posts had emerged, labeling his death, and the viral photo of his body, as 'karma' for having photographed funeral pyres of those who died due to COVID.

According to X's policy on 'deceased individuals', the platform can ask users to "remove images and videos that depict the death of an identifiable person", out of respect for the deceased and those affected by their death, and to minimise the risk of unintended exposure to graphic content.

Under this policy, the micro-blogging platform can ask users to "remove images or videos that were taken at the point of, immediately before, or after someone’s death," upon receiving a request from their family or an authorised representative.

X states that anyone can report media content, for removal, which is "excessively gruesome" or depicts "deceased individuals shared for sad*stic purposes". However, for any other type of content featuring identifiable deceased individuals, the platform requires a report from an immediate family member or authorised representative, such as a lawyer, to ensure proper context before taking action.

The process of removal entails filling up a private information form. For a situation like the Kolkata doctor case, X states that it will still require the user to remove the content, "even if shared inadvertently or to express shock, disbelief, or to denounce violent events".