Facebook protest: Arrested, slapped, girls still in trauma

On Sunday evening, 20-year-old Rinu Srinivasan - who got arrested with her friend Shaheen Dhada, 21, for objecting to the bandh following Bal Thackeray's death on Facebook - was hit by an unidentified woman outside Mumbai's Palghar police station. Puja Changoiwala reports. Timeline: Sena on a rampage

Forget free speech. A simple comment on Facebook - and what they got was a slap in the face.

Shaheen-Dhadha-center-and-Renu-Shrinivasan-arrested-for-their-Facebook-posts-speak-to-the-media-next-to-Shaheen-s-uncle-Abdul-Gafar-Dhada-in-Mumbai-AP-photo

On Sunday evening, 20-year-old Rinu Srinivasan - who got arrested with her friend Shaheen Dhada, 21, for objecting to the bandh following Bal Thackeray's death on Facebook - was hit by an unidentified woman outside Mumbai's Palghar police station.

"I saw a huge crowd outside the police station. Suddenly, a woman slapped me twice and vanished into the crowd," said Srinivasan. "I could not complain or tell anyone, because I was the one against whom the case was being registered," she added, tears rolling down her cheeks.

The two young women have had a bitter time.

Srinivasan, a Botany graduate, who had simply "liked" Dhada's comment on Facebook, said she was traumatised.

"I have never been to a police station before. I looked around and there were so many people staring at me. The place was so intimidating. And I was put through all this only because I chose to express my opinion," she said. Timeline: Sena on a rampage

Shaheen Dhadha and Renu Shrinivasan, arrested for their posts on Facebook, after their release on bail by the Palghar court in Mumbai on Monday. PTI photo