New Delhi, April 13: The Delhi High Court, on Friday, issued notices to several media houses in the country who had disclosed the identity of the 8-year-old girl who was gang-raped in Kathua district, in Jammu & Kashmir. The High Court, in its notices to media houses, have sought their response as to why no action should be taken against them.

The Delhi High Court bench comprising of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Hari Shankar had taken up the matter by their own and cracked the whip on the media houses, on Friday noon. The matter was taken up by them as they had come across several electronic and print media reports, which mentioned the Kathua gang-rape victim’s name.

The 8-year-old girl from the Bakerwal Muslim community was allegedly abducted near her home and then taken to forests next to Rasana village in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir, where she was reportedly drugged, raped and strangulated to death, on January 10.

Condemning the rape incident in the state, J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti assured the people that their government will bring in a new law that would award death penalty compulsorily to the people who raped minors. Earlier in the day, Mufti had threatened its ally in the government, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to reign-in voices within the party which were voicing pro-rapists thoughts.

There were wide-spread protests seen across the country with people expressing their anger on their social media – Twitter & Facebook – accounts, demanding stringent punishment for the rapists.

However, in this Kathua Rape & Murder case, not only the media houses but also politicians, Bollywood celebrities and prominent sports personalities also mentioned the victim's name as well her pictures which come as a shocker!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 13, 2018 02:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).