Dalit youth commits suicide in Mulbagal: Four held for harassment, assault of the youth
Mulbagal: Nangali police arrested four people of Petandlahalli village near Byrakur in the taluk on Saturday, for harassment of a Dalit youth who committed suicide in Bevahalli village of the taluk.
The police sources said that Raju, Shivaraj, Gopalakrishnappa and Munivenkatappa were arrested in relation to the case.
Uday Kiran, who belonged to a Dalit community, is learned to have committed suicide after being assaulted by the arrested men, who are from upper castes, for apparently a trivial reason.
Nangali police had filed a case against the four arrested men under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, said sources.
District Superintendent D Devaraj has said, “The four accused, who had been absconding, were held on Saturday. The investigation in the matter will be intensified.”
On November 30, Uday and his friend, who were on a two-wheeler, overtook Raju and Gopalakrishnappa, who were apparently upset by this. The arrested men are said to have stopped and verbally assaulted Uday on the spot. Later, when Uday and his friend were returning from Kadenahalli, the four men stopped the duo near Petlandahalli and thrashed Uday, before taking away his bike and mobile phone, sources said.
When Uday approached the arrested men later to collect his two-wheeler and mobile phone, the four men are learned to have tied him to a tree at Racchekatte of Petlandahalli, thrashed and verbally abused him on caste basis too.
The complainants told the Nangali police that Uday, unable to take the insult, committed suicide.
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Bombay HC issues notice to Maharashtra govt, MLA Murji Patel on Kunal Kamra’s plea to quash FIRs
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Maharashtra government and Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) MLA Murji Patel in response to a petition filed by comedian Kunal Kamra seeking the quashing of multiple FIRs lodged against him over political remarks made during his stand-up show.
A division bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and SM Modak scheduled the matter for hearing on April 16. “Issue notice to the respondents (police and Patel). They shall take instructions and respond to the plea,” the bench observed.
The first FIR was filed by Murji Patel on March 24 at Khar police station, based on Kamra’s performance of his show ‘Naya Bharat’ at Habitat Studio, Unicontinental Hotel, Khar. Kamra allegedly made comments targeting prominent political figures, industrialists, and central agencies.
Representing Kamra, senior advocate Navroz Seervai informed the court that the Madras High Court had extended the interim transit anticipatory bail granted to the comedian until April 17. Seervai added that Kamra, who has been residing in Tamil Nadu since 2021, had offered thrice in writing to appear before police via video conference due to threats to his safety. However, police insisted on his physical presence.
“This is not a case of murder. It is an FIR stemming from a stand-up comedy show,” Seervai said. “He is ready to cooperate with the investigation but seeks to do so through video conferencing.”
In his petition, Kamra contended that the FIRs violate his constitutional rights, including freedom of speech and expression, and that continuation of the case amounts to criminalising political commentary. He maintained that his comments about the 2022 political developments in Maharashtra, including the Shiv Sena split and Eknath Shinde's appointment as Chief Minister, are matters of public record.
Kamra stated that the script for ‘Naya Bharat’ was written in July 2024 and performed around 60 times between August 2024 and February 2025. A recording was uploaded online in March 2025, after which multiple FIRs were registered.
A zero FIR was initially filed at MIDC police station before being transferred to Khar. Three additional FIRs were lodged on March 28 under similar charges, with further cases registered in Thane and Dombivli.
Following backlash, an online ticketing platform delisted Kamra and removed all associated content on April 5.
The court will hear the case in full on April 16.
