111 FB users booked: Bindu Krishna defends complaint

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 25: The Mahila Congress leader whose complaint led to the

Police booking a total of 111

users under Sec 66 A of the Information Technology Act on Monday has defended herself.

Bindu Krishna said that she was forced to complain to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy since the comments that appeared on the popular social networking site were "highly defamatory". It was the chief minister's decision to refer the matter to the cyber cell of the police, she noted.

According to Bindu Krishna, the comments against her were "posted from a fake ID" on Facebook at the beginning of this month and shared by nearly 140 people within days. She feels that the Facebook users wanted to "tarnish" her image just because she agreed with the ruling party's decision to back Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien despite the opposition demanding his immediate resignation in view of the charges levelled by the Suryanelli rape survivor.

The latter avers that Kurien sexually abused her 17 years ago. A lawyer SS Dharmarajan, the only person to be convicted in the case, recently came up with the revelation that he took Kurien in his Ambassador car to the Kumily guest house wherein the rape survivor was confined on Feb 19, 1996.

However, now the focus of attention has shifted to the cyber cell's action. The media, politicians and netizens have slammed the Kerala Police for invoking a controversial section to harass the Facebook users.

Reacting to the development, CPI-M politburo member Brinda Karat told a news channel that if the Kerala government intends to register cases against all those who protest on the Kurien issue then millions would have to be booked across the state as almost the entire population believes the Suryanelli rape survivor is saying the truth.

BJP leader Balbir Punj pointed out that Facebook users need to avoid making derogatory remarks against any individual but at the same time the authorities should not book scores of people for merely sharing a controversial comment or two.

OneIndia News