Police arrest a Mangaluru activist for posting a photo on social media deemed ‘derogatory’
Sunil Bajilakeri had tweeted an image where the head of a cheetah was superimposed on the body of a woman dressed in traditional clothing. The woman appears visibly pregnant. “When is the baby shower for the cheetahs from Namibia?” Bajilakeri’s caption said in Kannada, according to Indian Express.
A batch of eight African cheetahs were brought to Gwalior from Windhoek, Namibia, as part of the Project Cheetah. Three of them were released amidst a blaze of publicity by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17 into the enclosure at the Kuno-Palpur National Park in Madhya Pradesh. The report says that the arrest was made after a police complaint by a woman who claimed the post was “an insult to pregnant women and Indian culture.”
Details on sections invoked against Bajilakeri and whether he has been produced before a magistrate are not available. Bajilakeri had earlier been associated with the Sangh Parivar. He then rose to become a critic of the Bharatiya Janata Party governments in Karnataka and the Union. Since then he has been involved in various social efforts.
Earlier this year, The Hindu reported that he had mooted a competition asking people in Mangaluru to post on social media a three-minute video of a civic issue of concern and announced cash prizes for two videos that get the most traction.