Tamil Nadu: Student who was arrested for shouting anti-BJP slogan granted bail

Chennai, Sep 4: A Thoothukudi court on Tuesday (September 4) granted bail to the student who was arrested at the Tuticorin airport on Monday for raising 'anti-government slogans' in front of Tamil Nadu BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan.

Sofia Lois, the 28-year-old student from University of Montreal, Canada, was in the same flight as Soundararajan. As per reports, Sofia shouted the slogan "Away with the Fascist BJP Government" inside the aircraft and later at the baggage collection area too as she had gone to complaint to the airport manager.

She was arrested after the plane landed in Tuticorin and the BJP leader filed a police complaint. The arrest sparked an outrage among the activists and senior leaders of the state opposition. Senior DMK leaders even began a social media campaign backing Sofia.

DMK's president MK Stalin took to twitter and repeated Sofia's words and challenged that he be arrested.

"Sophia should be immediately released. You will have to arrest lakhs of people who raise slogans like this. I will also raise the slogan. "BJP fascist govt down down"," Stalin said on Twitter.

Soundarrajan told reporters Sophia "had no right" to raise such slogans inside a flight and in front of co-passengers. She said she had suspicions about Sophia's background.

A case under IPC sections 290 (creating public nuisance), 505 (1)(b) for causing fear to the public in the flight and at the airport and under section 75 of the Madras City police act, was filed against her.