Actor Vinayakan landed in trouble on Thursday as the Ernakulam Town North police registered a case against him for a video posted on social media that was perceived as derogatory of the departed Congress leader Oommen Chandy even as the funeral procession of the former Chief Minister was winding its way to his home constituency Puthuppally.
Though the actor pulled down the post in the face of an avalanche of criticism, damage was done by then as the video ended up being widely circulated on social media. In the video, a sarcastic sounding Vinayakan could be heard asking who was Oommen Chandy, while stating that he could not accept the late leader as a good human being as being painted by the media while invoking the late Congress leader K. Karunakaran in the process.
He also asked the media to stop coverage of Chandy’s death and questioned the need for three days’ mourning.
“He [Oommen Chandy] is dead, so what should we do. My father was also dead and so as yours,” he said in the video. It did not go down well with the Congress activists who were already in an emotionally surcharged state in the wake of the demise of their leader.
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While a Youth Congress activist lodged a petition with the Ernakulam assistant commissioner seeking police action, two more complaints by District Congress Committee and Youth Congress officer-bearers were also filed. One of the complaints was lodged with the State Police Chief.
Since then, the police registered a case invoking Indian Penal Code Sections 153 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony) and 297 (trespassing in place of worship or sepulchre, disturbing funeral with intention to wound the feeling or to insult the religion of any person, or offering indignity to a human corpse) and Section 120 (o) (causing, through any means of communication, a nuisance of himself to any person by repeated or undesirable or anonymous call, letter, writing, message, e-mail or through a messenger) of the Kerala Police Act.
The police were in the process of recording the actor’s statement. Later in the day, three persons reportedly knocked on Vinayakan’s apartment on Stadium Link Road. However, he did not open the door and alerted the police. By the time, the police reached, the uninvited guests were nowhere to be seen.
