The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notices to several media houses that had named the eight-year-old girl who was raped and killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district in January, PTI reported.

Some reports in the print and electronic media had named the girl, after which a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar took up the matter on its own. They have asked the media houses why action should not be taken against them. It has barred the media from publishing her name in future reports.

India bars the publication of the name of a person against whom a sexual offence has been committed, under Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code. Jammu and Kashmir follows the Ranbir Penal Code, many of whose provisions are similar to the Indian Penal Code.

The brutal rape and murder of the eight-year-old had sparked statewide protests – and counter protests by the Hindu Ekta Manch against the arrest of the accused – with several groups demanding an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation.