Hyderabad: Hindu activists, along with an advocate filed cases against Telugu actor and film critic, Kathi Mahesh for making derogatory statements and offensive comments against Lord Rama and Sita Devi in a debate on a news channel. “We demand his immediate arrest as all his comments were deliberate,” said the activists.
Apart from Saidabad, complaints were lodged against him at Vanasthalipuram, KPHB and Banjara Hills too. “For me, Ramayana is just a book and Sri Rama is a character. He might be a great person but I believe he is a fool. I wish Sita lived with Ravana and maybe that would have brought her justice.” said Mahesh Kathi in the debate. Irked by this, Hindu Janasakthi leaders filed a case against Mahesh.
“We can see in his official Twitter handle where he wrote that no TV channel is inviting him for a debate and that he will soon create a controversy. He had deliberately called them and when they did not answer his call, he Tweeted asking them to lift his call. He is eager to create a controversy. When the panelists questioned his statements, he showed no remorse. We demand his immediate arrest and want PD Act to be invoked against him,” said Karuna Sagar, an advocate.
I have my rights to express what I want and will put forward my opinions as I have a right to freedom of speech,” said Kathi Mahesh, while speaking to DC.
“I am a rational human and in my opinion, Ravana was a better person. My comments were about Ramayana as a text and Ram as a character. There was no intention to hurt anyone. Now that they have pressed charges against me, the police will do the needful.
Banjara Hills police inspector, K. Srinivas said that cases under Section 295A and 505 of IPC were booked against him. “We have made a DD entry as soon as we got the complaint. We will be seeking a legal opinion by consulting with our advisor before taking action” said the officials from Saidabad Police station.
