Filmmaker Divya Bharathi interrogated by cops for two hours, ordeal repeated again

Divya who is on conditional bail is being questioned by Masinagudi police every day for two hours.
Filmmaker Divya Bharathi interrogated by cops for two hours, ordeal repeated again
Filmmaker Divya Bharathi interrogated by cops for two hours, ordeal repeated again
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‘How many bank accounts do you hold?’, ‘What is the basis of coming to the conclusion that the government did not do anything for  fishermen (cyclone Ockhi affected)?’, ‘What is the purpose of uploading the trailer of the film Orutharum Varela in You Tube?’, ‘Do you have any political lineage? Do you belong to any political party or frontal organisation of any political party?’

These are some of the questions from a list of 25 posed at filmmaker Divya Bharathi by Masinagudi Inspector of Police. Following the complaint filed against her documentary on Ockhi last month at Gudalur police station in Nilgiris district, Divya Bharathi is currently on conditional bail and is required to sign at the police station every day for the next one week.

“I surrendered at Gudalur Police station on August 3 and I’ve been given conditional bail. While it is a simple procedure where I sign at 10.30 am every day and leave, I’ve been subjected to a two-hour inquiry on day one by Masinagudi Inspector Muralidharan,” says Divya to TNM.

Divya also observes that it is unclear why an inspector from Masinagudi, which is 25 kilometres from Gudalur where the case has been filed, would conduct the inquiry. “I was cooperative on day one, although it was tiring to answer these questions. They repeated the same questions again on August 5 and that is when I lost my patience,” says Divya.

This time, the inspector also gave her a printed list of questions, asking her to return with written answers on Monday. “It is not legal for them to subject someone who is out on conditional bail to these inquiries. I am planning to submit a complaint with the Gudalur Magistrate tomorrow,” says Divya.

The police asked her other questions including how she came to the conclusion that fishermen had not received adequate warnings before Ockhi and that they were not given proper help by government agencies and the Indian Navy. The list also included a question on the image of a mutilated flag lying on a boat that was used in the documentary.

Divya who is currently staying with a friend in a remote village near Gudalur also shares that she is being followed by uniformed men who are always present around the area she’s currently in. “They don’t let me out of their sight. Even now, as we speak, there are a few standing around that corner, watching me,” she says to TNM over the phone.

A few days after the release of her upcoming documentary, Orutharum Varela’s trailer, the filmmaker received threats and unwarranted visits from police officials at her residence and her workplace in Madurai.

It was announced earlier this year that Orutharum Varela, a documentary on the devastating effects of Cyclone Ockhi that wreaked serious havoc on coastal India in December last year, would be out soon. After much delay, the trailer of her latest documentary titled Orutharum Varela (Nobody came) was released on YouTube on June 28.

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