Kathua incident shameful, we need to know where are we are going: President Ram Nath Kovind at Vaishno Devi University

Amid massive uproar over the Kathua rape and murder case, President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday said, ‘it was shameful that despite 70 years of Independence, such an incident took place in the country.’

‘We have to think what kind of society are we developing. It is our responsibility to ensure such a thing does not happen to any girl or woman,’ the President said during an event at Vaishno Devi University in Jammu and Kashmir’s Katra on Wednesday.

The remark comes at a time when the Opposition is slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not speaking up against the barbaric incident.

From senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha to ex-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, many politicians have lamented at lack of any credible narrative from the ruling BJP government after spate of heinous crimes involving minor girls.

Meanwhile, media houses, issued notices for revealing the identity of the eight-year-old Kathua rape victim, today apologised before the Delhi High Court and were directed to pay Rs 10 lakh each to the Jammu and Kashmir Victim Compensation Fund.

Advocates representing media houses told the court that the mistake of revealing the identity of the victim was due to their ignorance of the law and a misconception that they could name her as she was dead.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar directed that the compensation amount be deposited with the registrar general of the high court within a week and the money be transferred to the Jammu and Kashmir legal service authority's account to be used for Jammu and Kashmir's victim compensation scheme.

The bench also directed that wide and continuous publicity be given to the statutory provisions of law regarding privacy of victims of sexual offences and punishment for revealing their identities.