The cyber crime wing of the Chennai city police arrested a 23-year-old man on Wednesday, March 22, for posting a video meme depicting women in a derogatory manner. Pradeep is the administrator of a Twitter handle named ‘Voice of Savukku’, and was arrested based on a complaint filed by the Chairperson of Tamil Nadu State Women’s Commission.
According to police, Pradeep was arrested for posting a video meme, in which women are addressed in a derogatory manner. The meme is a one-minute-long video clip taken from a movie. The video was posted on March 21, criticising the scheme of monthly financial assistance provided to eligible women heads of households announced by Tamil Nadu Finance Minister in the recently-announced Budget. He was arrested and booked under sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation, with intent to cause riot), 505 (1)(b) (statements conducing to public mischief), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Youtuber Savukku Shankar alleged that it was Finance Minister Dr P Thiaga Rajan who mounted pressure to make the arrest, as the video was directed at the state budget. In response to this, PTR refuted the allegations and said that he neither watched the video nor filed the complaint.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Annamalai also criticised the state government for making the arrest, and alleged that it was at the behest of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Actor-turned-politician and member of the National Commission for Women (NCW), Khushbu Sundar, also took to social media against the arrest and alleged that it was “suppression of people’s voices”.