This image shows the facade of the Supreme Prosecutors' building in Seocho District, Seoul, July 21. Yonhap

Police have referred eight people to the prosecution for indictment on charges of disclosing the personal information of rapists behind a notorious gang rape case in the southern city of Miryang 20 years ago.

The identity disclosures were seen as an act of taking the law into their own hands in the gang rape case that sparked massive public outrage amid perceptions that the assailants were not properly punished due in part to their young ages.

The case dates back to 2004 when 44 high school students gang raped five girls, two of them middle school students and the three others high school girls. But the perpetrators were either spared from indictment after settlement with the victims or punished only with juvenile penalties that leave no criminal record.

The case was recently brought to public attention again after several YouTube channels disclosed the identities of the perpetrators in the case, raising concerns over private punishment without resorting to the due process of law.

Since then, those featured in the videos filed a complaint against the YouTubers and bloggers, accusing them of defamation by publishing their personal information without permission.

On Monday, the police referred eight people to the prosecution on related charges.

The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency had received a total of 469 complaints on this case as of last week, and of them, 192 people are considered subjects of questioning, officials said. (Yonhap)