MP: Protesters, Journalist forced to strip down to undergarments inside lock-up, photos go viral
Sidhi (MP), Apr 7: A journalist and a few activists who were protesting against the arrest of an artist were detained and forced to strip down to their undergarments while in police custody in Madhya Pradesh's Sidhi district.
After the photos of the detained persons in underwear went viral on social media, two local police officials were transferred, a senior police official said on Thursday.
A local journalist and some activists were protesting "in unauthorised manner" in front of the Kotwali police station here against the arrest of Neeraj Kunder, director of Indravati Drama School, on April 2.
Kunder had been arrested for allegedly posting defamatory posts on Facebook using a false identity against local BJP MLA Kedar Nath Shukla and his son Gurudutt Sharan Shukla, said Kotwali police station in-charge Manoj Soni.
A group of activists along with local "YouTube journalist" Kanishk Tiwari staged a protest in front of the Kotwali police station, shouting slogans against MLA Shukla and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
According to police officer Soni, they were detained for protesting without permission and disrupting peace, and released on April 3.
But on Thursday, the photos of the protestors in their underwear went viral.
Asked about the viral photographs, Soni said they were asked to strip down to underwear because sometimes people hang themselves in custody using their clothes and this was a preventive measure.
After the photos showing the protesters getting humiliated in this way caused outrage, Soni and sub-inspector Abhishek Singh were `line-attached' (shunted out from field duty) on the chief minister's order for leaking the photographs, said a senior police official.
Congress leader Ajay Singh, in a statement, condemned the treatment meted out to journalist Kanishk Tiwari.
This behaviour of the cops with a journalist not only reflects terror of police, but also the BJP government's attitude towards the media fraternity and its thinking, he said, terming the incident as a direct attack on democracy's fourth estate.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
