Police in poll-bound Karnataka have registered an FIR against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Shobha Karandlaje, for allegedly spreading enmity between two communities.
I had received a poster on 12th of this month by a man who had come to the police station. The poster stated: Jihadis tried to rape and murder a girl studying in 9th standard in Honnavar. Why is the government silent about this incident? Arrest those who molested and injured the girl.Anandamurthy, Sub-inspector, Honnavar Police Station to The News Minute.
The officer said that the man who came to the police station had said that he feared for his safety.
When we checked Twitter, Shobha Karandlaje had tweeted the same thing. The man had said that Shobha Karandlaje had asked for the distribution of these posters too. Her statements are provocative in nature and may lead to the two communities to clash and also disrupt the peace in the region.Anandamurthy to The News Minute.
A case has been registered under sections 153 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race), 153(a) (by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations) of the Indian Penal Code.
In subsequent tweets on 14 December, she called for the arrest of the school girl’s “alleged molesters”.
The incident of a school girl’s wrist being slit was reported on 14 December from the coastal town. But later on 17 December, police clarified that the wounds on the girl were self-inflicted and that she had attempted to commit suicide, but later changed her mind. She was reportedly being harassed by a man.
This incident had come to light soon after the mysterious death of Paresh Mesta that had sparked communal tension in Dakshina Kannada district. BJP accused that Mesta had been targeted only because he was a Hindu. However, the police have denied Mesta's death as murder and rejected rumours of alleged visible marks of torture faced by Mesta before his death.
(This article has been published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
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