Bengaluru: Kannada film actor and activist Chetan Kumar A alias Chetan Ahimsa was arrested for allegedly making comments against a Karnataka High Court judge who is part of a bench hearing the batch of petitions challenging the ban on hijab in educational institutions. His arrest came days after he participated in a protest march organised by pro-Dalit organisations.
On Tuesday, the police said they registered a suo moto case against Chetan and recorded his arrest. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) MN Anucheth said he was charged under sections 505 (2) and 504 of the IPC.
Chetan Kumar on February 16 re-tweeted one of his old tweets about justice Krishna Dixit who had granted pre-arrest bail in an alleged rape case. On June 27, 2020, he had tweeted, “This week KA (Karnataka) High Court Justice Krishna Dixit granted pre-arrest bail to rape-accused Rakesh B claiming ‘it is unbecoming of an Indian woman to sleep after rape; that is not the way women react when they are ravished.’ What’s ‘unbecoming’ is 21st c (century) misogyny of this judiciary Dixit fossil.”
The actor was picked up from his Kumara Park residence at about 3.30 p.m. and was reportedly questioned at an undisclosed location for several hours. The police announced his arrest late on Tuesday night, till which time, the family alleged that they were given no information.
The actor’s wife, Megha, said that though she was at home, she did not realise that the police had come to the house and taken Chetan with them. “At about 3.30 p.m., Chetan went down as someone had come to meet him, but did not return. After a while, I started searching for him which was when neighbours told me a police jeep had taken him away. I was not even informed,” she said. It was only hours later that police announced his arrest.
This is not the first time the actor has found himself in the centre of controversy because of his tweets. His critical remarks on ‘Brahminism’ on Twitter had upset members of the community, leading to two FIRs against him