Kerala HC seeks State’s response on actor Ansiba Hassan’s petition against Magistrate’s order
The Kerala High Court on Thursday admitted the petition by actor Ansiba Hassan challenging an order of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Ernakulam, which
The Kerala High Court on Thursday admitted the petition by actor Ansiba Hassan challenging an order of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Ernakulam, which refused to register a case based on her complaint against a video allegedly containing sexually coloured and defamatory statements made against her. Hassan requested the High Court to set aside the Magistrate’s order and instruct the Station House Officer, Palarivattom, to register an FIR and conduct an investigation on her complaint against her fellow actors Lakshmipriya and Shwetha Menon.
The court granted the State time to respond to the petition and directed that the matter would be considered in a week. In her petition, Ms. Hassan had narrated that in the early hours of June 26, a teaser video of an interview with Ms. Lakshmipriya was published on a social media platform, containing sexually coloured remarks intended to outrage her modesty and insult her dignity as a woman. Reportedly, Ms. Hassan attempted to prevent the release of the full interview by filing complaints with the police and the Kerala Home Minister, who reportedly informed her that an investigation was already underway.
The full interview was released on the evening of June 26. It allegedly contained remarks by Ms. Lakshmipriya that portrayed her as “a woman of immoral character who clandestinely invites men to her room for illicit activities, thereby damaging her reputation, dignity and privacy.” The SHO, Palarivattom, had informed the Magistrate on Ms. Hassan’s complaint that six witnesses were examined in the preliminary inquiry and reported that there was no evidence to prove her allegations. The SHO further opined that a case could be registered under defamation before a competent court, in place of an FIR for outraging the modesty of a woman.
Previously, the Hill Palace police had registered FIRs against Ms. Lakshmipriya and a woman sub-inspector, and the Kadavanthra police had booked actor Tiny Tom in this matter, following the Magistrate court’s intervention as the police had initially refused to register FIRs.
The BriefWire