No remorse, no apology: Comedian Kunal Kamra tells Maharashtra legislature panel
Mumbai (PTI): Comedian Kunal Kamra on Thursday appeared before a committee of the Maharashtra legislature and stated that he did not feel any remorse over his remarks targeting Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, nor would he tender an apology.
He later shared on social media that he stood by his statements and would not tender an "insincere" apology.
A committee was constituted to examine the complaint against Kamra after a breach of privilege notice was issued against him.
"The way I remember the last three questions of my cross-examination this evening -- Do you feel remorse? No. Are you sorry about what you said? No. If you tender an unconditional apology, this matter will be looked at differently -- No, I can't, as the apology would not be sincere. Also, it would set a terrible precedent for other artists and their freedom," he wrote.
Earlier, chairman of the privileges committee Prasad Lad said that a complaint had been filed by Pravin Darekar, a BJP Member of the Legislative Council, against Kunal Kamra.
"Cross-questioning of both Kunal Kamra and Pravin Darekar took place today. Around 24 questions were asked to Kunal Kamra," Lad said.
"Questions were also raised about constitutional rights and the rights of the Privileges Committee. He answered all the questions. The committee also informed him that if he offers an unconditional apology, the matter would be considered differently. His lawyer stated that they would discuss this with him and send their response to the committee in writing via email," Lad added.
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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.
