Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi rape threat: Home ministry directs Mumbai and Delhi police to take action

NEW DELHI: A day after after Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi lodged a police complaint following rape threat to her daughter on Twitter, the centre on Tuesday took cognisance of the matter and directed both Mumbai police and Delhi police to file cases in the matter.  A spokesperson of the union home ministry said that the government has also asked microblogging site Twitter to provide details of the account from which Chaturvedi was threatened.

On Monday, the Congress spokesperson had lodged a complaint with Mumbai police following a rape threat directed at her 10-year-old daughter by a troll account on Twitter.

"I have filed a complaint at the Goregaon police station. Police have assured me of prompt action in the matter," she had said. Home minister Rajnath Singh told Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik to file a separate FIR on threat issued to Chaturvedi. Singh asked Delhi CP to take such threats "very seriously", sources said. Mumbai's Goregaon Police and Delhi's Tughlaq road lodged FIRs in the matter.

Mumbai police also invoked stringent POCSO (Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences) Act in the FIR because of the rape threat issued to Chaturvedi's minor daughter. Reacting to the the directives passed by home ministry, Chaturvedi tweeted, " I am glad that Home ministry and Rajnath Singh ji have taken cognisance of the violent threats directed at me and my minor daughter. Hope they will ensure this reaches its logical conclusion and the culprits are brought to book."In the tweet, which was deleted later, a user @GirishK1605 had said he would rape Chaturvedi's daughter. In response, Chaturvedi had tweeted, "Despite having a picture of Lord Ram as his profile picture, the accused did not hesitate from making such remarks." NCP leader Supriya Sule also condemned the rape threats to Chaturvedi's daughter.

"The troller/account holder posting such threats much be booked under the law and needs to be punished immediate," Sule tweeted while asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take serious cognisance of the issue.Last week, Union minister Sushma Swaraj had also become a target of hate messages on Twitter. The External Affairs Minister was accused of appeasing Muslims after she helped an interfaith couple get passport.