The Kerala police on Wednesday submitted a charge sheet against businessman Bobby Chemmanur before a court in Ernakulam stating that he had made sexually charged remarks about a woman actor on social media.
Chemmanur, owner of a chain of jewellery shops in the state and abroad, was arrested on January 8 after a woman actor filed a complaint on January 7 accusing him of making disparaging remarks with “double meanings” and sexual innuendos at her in person and on social media platforms. He spent five days in judicial remand before being released on bail by the high court.
An officer with the Ernakulam Central police, which registered the FIR and submitted the charge sheet before the Ernakulam Magistrate Court, said that the police have collected strong evidence against the businessman, including digital proof of the remarks he made.
He further said that the businessman made repeated sexually loaded comments about the actor to insult her after she said no to his invitations for the inauguration of his showrooms and other events. Video clips of his interviews on certain digital platforms in which he made disparaging remarks have also been added along with the charge sheet, he added.
The businessman was booked under section 75(4) (making sexually coloured remarks as a form of sexual harassment) under BNS and section 67 of the IT Act.
{{/usCountry}}The businessman was booked under section 75(4) (making sexually coloured remarks as a form of sexual harassment) under BNS and section 67 of the IT Act.
{{/usCountry}}The actor had also filed a case against 30 others for dropping lewd comments on her social media page. At least one person was arrested in that case.
“You can believe in the might of your money. I believe in the strength of the legal system of the country,” the actor said on social media after the businessman’s arrest in January.
“To murder a person today, one doesn’t need knives or guns these days. All they need is a bunch of social media profiles from which spew cruel, obscene, double-meaning comments and paid campaigns. The sharpness will increase if a person is leading the social media goondaism,” she wrote.