Facebook post on PJ Kurien gets 111 people into trouble

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The controversial Section 66A of the IT Act has been used again to book 111 people for defamatory remarks against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien on Facebook over the Suryanelli gangrape case, according to a report on IBN Live. The Suryanelli case took place in January 1996, when a 16-year-old girl was threatened, abducted and abused by a bus conductor and was later confined and sexually assaulted for 45 days by 42 men.

The case was back in the spotlight after the Supreme Court ordered a retrial in the case on January 31 while setting aside the acquittal in 2005 by the Kerala High Court of all but one of the 35 accused convicted by a special court.

Kurien's name never appeared in the list of accused. After the lower court found more than 42 people guilty in the 1990s, the victim then filed a private complaint against Kurien in a court in Idukki. He got a discharge in the case from the apex court in that petition.

Apparently, one person had posted a status against Kurien and 110 people had shared it, says the report. The report has been filed with the with the cyber cell of the Kerala Police.

Section 66A of the IT Act reads: "Any person who sends by any means of a computer resource...any information that is grossly offensive or has a menacing character; or any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult... shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine."

Some other famous cases pertaining to the Section 66A of the IT Act are as follows: (1) Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra was arrested in Kolkata for circulating a cartoon depicting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, (2) A young woman, Shaheen Dhada, and her friend were arrested in Maharashtra for a Facebook post questioning Mumbai's shutdown following Bal Thackeray's death, and (3) Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was arrested for his cartoons on the Parliament and the Indian Constitution.

(With inputs from IANS)