CHENNAI: Madras high court on Friday restrained media outlets and social media platforms from publishing or disclosing any video which touches upon the child rape case involving granite baron R Veeramani.“There is something more important in life than TRP ratings,” Justice V Lakshminarayanan said.“In order to fulfil the interest of the public to know as to what the police are doing with respect to the serious crime, the SIT formed by the state govt shall issue a press release once every week,” he added.The entities that are injuncted have the liberty to have discussion on the issues that arise out of child abuse as long as it does not touch upon the factual matrix of the case, the court said.The interim orders were passed on a plea moved by Tulir Charitable Trust (For Prevention & Healing of Child Sexual Abuse) seeking a continuous John Doe order of injunction against all persons, including Living Media India Limited (India Today), Republic Media Network (Republic TV), and Sathiyam Media Vision Private Limited (Sathiyam TV) from broadcasting the video recording of the alleged sexual abuse.Passing the interim order, the judge said, “Broadcasting the videos will have a chilling effect on the victims. Many victims would have moved on in their lives. If the videos are leaked, how will other victims come out to report.”“It is a serious crime. The victims of the crime must be protected at the same time the accused also has some rights,” the court said and adjourned the hearing to Sept 30.The Tamil Nadu govt has constituted an all-woman four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the child rape case against Veeramani, and other associated issues.The team was formed as the investigation into the case expanded following the arrest of Veeramani along with Shanthi and Mahendra Simhan in Aug 29 in connection with a child rape case. A former employee of Gem Granites, Ganesan, was subsequently arrested after police found a video linked to the case on his mobile phone on Sept 22.
