A 28-year-old daily wage worker was allegedly murdered by his friend in Tiruvallur district for uploading a video of the duo abusing another community, on the social media app TikTok. The video which targeted an oppressed community led to tension and unrest in the village Thalambedu where they hailed from, The New Indian Express reports.
The accused, 31-year-old Venkatraman and the victim Shiva both worked together on a farmland near the village. The video which reportedly targeted members of a marginalised community in the same village, led to protests from the subjects of the video. According to reports, a few people staged a protest in front of Venkatraman's house and lodged a police complaint against the two men.
Aware that the police would be looking for them, the duo went into hiding. The police then reportedly detained Venkatraman's father for questioning, which further angered him. The two men got into an altercation and that soon turned into a physical fight. Venkatraman then allegedly strangled an inebriated Shiva to death.
He then went to the Tirutani police station and surrendered. He has been booked for murder and the probe is underway. Shiva's brother meanwhile alleged that the murder could have been over a different motive.
This is however not the first time that the app has directly or indirectly led to an arrest. On February 9, a 19-year-old man was arrested by police over a video clip of him on the app where he is seen walking outside a police station. Before that on January 25, two men were arrested in Salem for shooting a video on the app with a police jeep.
The Tamil Nadu government, earlier this month, even stated that it was looking to ban TikTok. Minister M Manikanda said in the state Assembly that the government will approach the Centre to ban the mobile app. Nagapattinam MLA Thamimun Ansari from the AIADMK reportedly raised the issue and said that the app is 'damaging' to Indian culture.