Preliminary investigation into allegations that BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi identified the Tehelka sexual assault case victim on Twitter began Sunday with the Goa Police sending a letter to complainant Sunil Kawthankar to provide a screenshot of the tweet.
Kawthankar,the NSUI Goa unit vice-president,had on December 2 complained to the Governor against Lekhi for allegedly disclosing the second name of the victim,which he said was enough to identify the victim.
Kawthankar has now found fault with the Goa Police letter,which got the surname of the BJP leader wrong,and argued that it smacked of carelessness in investigations.
The letter from Goa Cyber Crime Cell,Panaji,reads,You are requested to provide the screenshot copy and URL of tweets of Meenakshi Latika (Lekhi)… if available else you are kindly requested to make yourself available for identifying the tweets and URL which is essential for further action.
Kawthankar had on December 2 complained to the Governor against Lekhi and sought action under IPC Section 228A,which states identifying victims of certain offences is punishable. The complaint was forwarded to crime branch,Goa. The offence had allegedly taken place in Goa.
Kawthankar says apart from the offence,he is upset at the careless manner in which police is going about their probe.
There is a need to treat this matter seriously. The police have misspelt the BJP spokespersons name. How are they going to even find her Twitter handle if they do not even spell her name correctly, said Kawthankar.
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Kawthankar is likely to meet the Director General of Police on Monday.
