Mangaluru social activist booked for morphed picture of cheetah

MANGALURU: Mangaluru-based social activist Sunil Bajilakeri has been booked on the charges of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act after he posted a morphed picture of a pregnant woman with a cheetah’s head with a caption, ‘when is the baby shower of the Namibia Cheetah’, on social media.

Bajilakeri was apparently reacting to a social media post of the cheetah imported from Namibia being pregnant, a piece of news which had later turned false. Meanwhile, when Bajpe police visited his place on Friday night in order to serve him a notice based on a complaint by a woman, Bajilakeri allegedly created a ruckus following which he was arrested. Urwa police booked him under IPC Section 353 (Assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty). City Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar said Bajilakeri was produced before a magistrate on Saturday which granted him bail. Bajpe Police have booked a case against him under IPC Section 153 (A) 505 (1)(B), 509 and section 6 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.

DYFI DK district committee strongly condemned the arrest of Bajilakeri and accused the BJP government in the state of targeting him for ‘exposing its anti-people policies and illegalities’ in social media. Santosh Bajal, secretary, of Dakshina Kannada unit of DYFI said, “He has been posting write-ups and caricatures exposing the illegalities and injustices committed by MLAs D Vedavyas and Y Bharath Shetty. Hence the MLAs who are embarrassed by this have tried to shut his mouth with the arrest. The complaint against him has no proper basis.”