CWC orders removal of viral video of minor in Banihal school incident

Banihal, Jul 7: The Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Ramban, has directed the Cyber Police Station, Ramban, to immediately identify and remove all social media posts, URLs and digital platforms circulating a viral video of a minor student involved in the recent Government Middle School Krawah incident in Banihal, citing violations of child protection laws. In an order issued on Tuesday by Chairperson CWC RambanNighatGhani said the incident relates to a Class 7 student of Government Middle School Krawah, Banihal, who was accidentally locked inside the school after reportedly falling asleep in a classroom on the last working day before the 15-day summer vacation. The child was later rescued by a local passerby. The committee noted that videos of the child, including interviews recorded on the school premises, were uploaded and widely circulated on social media without safeguarding the child’s identity, privacy and dignity. It observed that such circulation is in violation of the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, as well as the guidelines of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). According to the order, the continued circulation of the videos could expose the child to public scrutiny, online harassment, identity misuse and long-term psychological harm. The CWC has directed the Cyber Police to immediately identify the social media accounts, URLs and digital platforms hosting or sharing the videos and initiate legal measures to ensure their removal or blocking through the concerned intermediaries. The Cyber Police has also been asked to initiate legal action against individuals involved in recording, publishing, interviewing or broadcasting content featuring the minor in contravention of child protection laws. Further, the committee has prohibited media persons, journalists, digital content creators, vloggers and members of the public from interviewing, filming or disseminating videos involving the child in any manner that could compromise the child’s privacy, dignity, safety or overall well-being. The Child Welfare Committee has directed the Cyber Police to submit an action taken report within three days of receiving the order. The directive comes days after the Chief Education Officer, Ramban, suspended the entire staff of Government Middle School Krawah and ordered a departmental inquiry into the incident in which the student was found locked inside the school premises for several hours.