Trinamool Congress MP and Bengali actor Rachana Banerjee on Sunday apologised for revealing the identity of the trainee doctor who was raped and murdered at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College on August 9. Her apology came after a complaint was filed against her for naming the victim in a social media post.

Rachana Banerjee recently posted a video on her social media handle condemning the incident. The name of the victim appeared at the end of the video.

The complaint, filed by Shayan Sachin Basu, an advocate of the Kolkata High Court, demanded immediate legal action against the Trinamool MP.

The complaint said that Banerjee “recklessly” mentioned the victim’s name multiple times, “thus exacerbating the trauma of the victim and further endangering her safety and dignity”.

Meanwhile, Banerjee admitted to her mistake and apologised. She said she had deleted the video.

Speaking to India Today TV, Banerjee explained that she mentioned the victim’s name as she was speaking “emotionally from the heart”.

“It was definitely a very big mistake on my part. I shouldn’t have done that. I should have referred to her as ‘Tilottama,’ as everyone else is doing. I was very sad and emotional at that moment while making the video. All the words I was saying were from my heart, and it was not scripted. Naturally, with the emotion, that name came to my mind,” she said.

The actor-politician added, “Everyone’s mind is now stuck on that same name.”

Meanwhile, the Kolkata Police summoned BJP leader and former MP Locket Chatterjee for the same offence. Two prominent doctors – Dr Kunal Sarkar and Dr Subarna Goswami – have also been directed to appear before the police this evening.

Section 72 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita prohibits revealing the identity of rape victims and is punishable with imprisonment of either a jail term that may extend to two years or a fine or both.