NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Women on Saturday sent a notice to
BJP spokesperson
Meenakshi Lekhi seeking her explanation for allegedly revealing on Twitter a part of the name of the complainant who accused Tehelka editor
Tarun Tejpal of sexual assault.
Speaking to TOI, NCW member Shamina Shafiq said, "We have asked Meenakshi Lekhi to explain why she revealed the victim's surname. She is a responsible person. It is very unfortunate if a person like her makes a mistake like this."
The NCW has asked Lekhi to reply within 24 hours. Revealing identity of the victim in such cases is punishable under Section 228A of IPC.
Lekhi reacted strongly to the furore sparked by the tweet, which she claimed she did not send. "The NCW is acting more like an arm of the Congress and less like an institution to protect victims of rape and such heinous crimes," said Lekhi.
She hit out at what she said was a "concerted effort and a campaign" to malign her for a
tweet that existed in her account for "just a few minutes".
"I expressed regret even though I had not sent the tweet. I had left my phone unattended in the car and went in for a meeting. It is evident somebody played a mischief," said Lekhi.
For the last few months, her email account and her Facebook account were hacked, she said. "Then a Twitter account came up resembling mine. It was a case of impersonation. The false account was created to malign me," said Lekhi. She had complained to Twitter and threatened police action after which the "false account" was blocked.
However, she did not lodge a complaint with the police in any of the hacking cases. "I am a lawyer. I know nothing happens. The idea is to protect myself. So, I did not lodge a police complaint," said Lekhi.
She suspects an ulterior motive in the zeal of the media to report the tweet faux pas. "The time and effort being spent by the media to report this is surprising. I have been a frontrunner in women's issues. I helped in the drafting of laws like the Sexual Harassment at Workplace. I work hard for the freedom of press during the Nirbhaya case. But, the media did not report it then," said Lekhi.
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