Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account has been temporarily suspended: Congress

Due process is being followed for restoration of the account, the Congress tweeted from its official Twitter handle

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account has been temporarily suspended and due process is being followed to restore it, the party said Saturday.

This comes a day after Twitter removed a controversial post of Gandhi with a picture of him meeting the family of a nine-year-old Dalit girl who died here following an alleged sexual assault. A message from Twitter read that the tweet had violated its rules.

"Shri @RahulGandhi's Twitter account has been temporarily suspended & due process is being followed for its restoration," the Congress tweeted from its official Twitter handle.

"Until then, he will stay connected with you all through his other SM platforms & continue to raise his voice for our people & fight for their cause. Jai Hind!" the party said.

 

Posting a picture of his meeting with the girl's family on Wednesday, Gandhi had tweeted in Hindi: "Parents' tears are saying only one thing -- their daughter, the daughter of this country, deserves justice. And I am with them on this path to justice."

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had asked the Delhi Police and Twitter on Wednesday to take action over Gandhi posting the photo of the girl's family on the microblogging website, saying it violates the Juvenile Justice Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Gandhi met the girl's family members on Wednesday and asserted that he is with them on the path to justice and "will not back down even an inch".

"In the said photo, the faces of the victim's father and mother can be seen which thereby reveals the identity of the girl," the apex child rights body said.

"Therefore, posting of the photo of the minor victim's family on the said Twitter handle has been observed by the commission to be a violation of Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, Section 23 of the POCSO Act, 2012, Section 228A of the IPC and the guidelines of the Hon'ble court as well," it said.