Rahul Gandhi's Twitter Account 'Temporarily Locked', Following Due Process For Restoration: Congress

Earlier in the day, Twitter removed Rahul Gandhi's tweet in which he shared a picture of him meeting the relatives of a minor girl who was allegedly raped and murdered in the Delhi Cantonment area.

File Photo

New Delhi: Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account has been temporarily locked and due process is being followed for its restoration, INC's official handle informed on Saturday.

"Shri Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter account has been temporarily suspended & due process is being followed for its restoration. Until then, he will stay connected with you all through his other SM platforms & continue to raise his voice for our people & fight for their cause. Jai Hind!" Congress party's tweet read.

Clarifying the matter, the party later added that "the account has been temporarily locked".

The Wayanad MP has been posting on Instagram while there are no tweets posted by him today perhaps because of not being able to access his Twitter account. He took to the popular photo and video sharing app to congratulate Neeraj Chopra for his historic Olympic win.

While the reason behind the temporary suspension is yet to be confirmed, earlier in the day, Twitter had removed Rahul Gandhi's tweet in which he shared a picture of him meeting the relatives of a minor girl who was allegedly raped and murdered in the Delhi Cantonment area earlier this week.

In the shared photo, the faces of the victim's parents were visible.

This happened after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issued a notice to Twitter on Wednesday and asked to take action against the Twitter handle of the Wayanad MP for violating the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act by revealing the rape victim’s identity.

In a letter written by the Children's Commission to the Grievance Officer of Twitter India, it was said that posting the family photo of any minor victim is a violation under Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and Section 23 of the POCSO Act.

Rahul had met the girl's family members earlier this week and asserted that he is with them in their fight for justice and "will not back down even an inch".

Later, the politician took to the social media along with the picture and said, "The tears of parents are saying only one thing - their daughter, the daughter of this country, deserves justice. And I am with them on this path to justice."

Taking cognisance of the matter, NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo said that the child rights body took action against the Congress leader for revealing the identity of the minor rape victim by posting the photograph of her parents on the microblogging site.