Congress claims Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account temporarily suspended, Twitter denies; party later says it is 'locked'

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

The Congress on Saturday claimed that Twitter has "temporarily suspended" the account of its former chief Rahul Gandhi, but later said it has been "temporarily locked" after the microblogging platform denied having suspended the account and stated that it continues to be in service.

The action by Twitter came over 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. Twitter has deemed that the account violated its rules against posting private information.

According to party sources, some features of Gandhi's account have been temporarily limited, and while he could browse the social media site and send direct messages to his followers, no tweets, retweets, follows, fleets or likes were allowed.

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Twitter has communicated that all the features of the account could be restored in 12 hours once the tweet violating its rules is deleted by him, the sources said.

Sources in the party claimed that Gandhi had done nothing wrong and they had the consent of the family of the girl for posting the photograph.

"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.

Responding to queries about the Congress' claim, Twitter said it can confirm that the account has not been suspended and continues to be in service.

When any account is suspended, Twitter removes it from global view, the microblogging platform said.

Tagging its previous tweet, the Congress later tweeted, "The account has been temporarily locked."

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".