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Kerala HC grants anticipatory bail to activist who attacked YouTuber
Dubbing artist and activist Bhagyalakshmi and two of her friends had allegedly trespassed into a lodge where YouTuber Vijay P Nair was staying and manhandled him in September.
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to dubbing artist and activist Bhagyalakshmi and two of her friends accused of manhandling YouTuber Vijay P Nair in September.
Police had registered a case against three after they allegedly trespassed into a lodge where Nair was staying on September 26 and assaulted him for making derogatory remarks against women on his YouTube channel. The incident was live-streamed on the Facebook account of one of the accused. The issue triggered a debate in the state with many activists and others hailing the “direct action”.
They said they were forced to take action after police failed to act on their complaint. The police later arrested Vijay P Nair but he was released on bail. Following the incident the state government had decided to bring an ordinance to deal with cyber attack on women.
All three were charged under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 452 (house trespassing) and 392 (robbery) of the Indian Penal Code.
In the first week of October, the chief judicial magistrate court had rejected their anticipatory bail plea after accepting the contention of the prosecution that it would give a wrong message and it may prompt others to take law into their hands.
They later approached the High Court. The petitioners contended that they went to the lodge to talk to Nair about his video and they had no intention to attack or commit robbery. They said they seized videos and other materials and deposited them at the nearest police station immediately and they told police officials about the incident. They also said they bought an ink bottle to pour on him and humiliate but they had no intention to manhandle him.
Though the High Court took a strong position in the case initially saying those who take law into their hands should also be ready to face its consequences, Justice Ashok Menon granted them anticipatory bail.
