The Tamil Nadu Government has come under criticism for revealing the identity of a 19-year-old sexual harassment victim and identified her college in an order it issued to transfer the case to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

As per the order signed by Niranjan Mardi, Home Secretary of Tamil Nadu government, the administration was transferring the investigations into the case to the CBI under section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 on the advice of Director General of Police T K Rajendran. In the order, the name of the victim, college where she is studying, and other details were mentioned – it was shared multiple times on social media by several thousand people which amounts to further harassment of the victim mentally.

Meawhile, the CBI is expected to commence its probe in the sensational case shortly. The case relates to allegations that a gang of four men have been befriending hundreds of women on social media and then sexually molesting them, since 2013. In some cases, the men shot explicit videos of the women and used those to blackmail their victims, police said. Four men – N Satish, N Sabarirajan, T Vasanthakumar and K Thirunavukkarasu – have been arrested in Pollachi in connection with the case. The four are now in judicial custody.

The transfer of the case to the CBI comes days after the release of a video showing one such assault which provoked massive online outrage in the state. On Tuesday, the case had been transferred to the CB-CID.