Kottayam Cyber Police book three over online abuse targeting deceased journalist
A case was registered against three people for allegedly circulating defamatory content online targeting a deceased journalist, police said on Sunday.
The Kottayam Cyber Police registered the case on Saturday following a complaint alleging that abusive language was used and defamatory content circulated online targeting Malayalam Manorama Special Correspondent Jijo John Puthezhath, who recently died of cardiac arrest in Kochi.
According to the FIR, an unidentified caller made an abusive phone call to the Kottayam head office of Malayalam Manorama on July 9.
The caller allegedly used vulgar language against Puthezhath.
The recorded phone conversation was subsequently made public on September 10 on the Facebook page 'SV Vibes', managed by SV Arun Kumar, after Puthezhath's death, the FIR said.
Following the post, abusive comments targeting the deceased journalist and his family were allegedly posted from Facebook profiles named 'Ashraf Tharang' and 'Santhosh Kumar', the FIR said.
The Cyber Crime Police have charged the accused under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), section 296(b) (using obscene language), section 356(2) (defamation), and section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act (causing nuisance).
Recently, Chief Minister VD Satheesan and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala had condemned the targeting of Puthezhath and his family on social media.
