NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today issued notices to several media houses for disclosing the identity of the eight-year-old girl who was gang raped and killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar, which took up the issue on its own after coming across print and electronic media reports, sought a response from the media houses, asking why action should not be taken against them on the matter.

The Court had recorded the names of various networks and publications who were held guilty of the disclosing the identity of the victim. These included India TV, The Times of India, NDTV, Republic TV, Indian Express, The Hindu etc.

The girl from the nomadic Bakerwal Muslim community had disappeared from near her home in the forests next to Rasana village in Kathua, 90 km from here, on January 10.

A week later, her body was found in the same area.

The state police Crime Branch, which probed the case, filed a main chargesheet against seven accused persons and a separate chargesheet against a juvenile in a court in Kathua district earlier this week.

However the state has been divided between against and in favour of rapist as they telling the accused are innocent as some conspiracy has been done against them.