A Special Court on February 19 convicted and sentenced actor and BJP functionary S. Ve Shekher to simple imprisonment for one month for sharing a derogatory post on women journalists on his social media page. The court, however, suspended the sentence to enable him to appeal before the High Court within 30 days.
A popular Tamil film actor, Mr. Shekher is a BJP functionary and former AIADMK MLA. On April 19, 2018, he shared a post on his Facebook timeline about women journalists that affected the modesty of the woman journalist and others. The Cyber Crime Wing registered a case based on a complaint by State General Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Journalists and Protection Association. The complaint said Mr. Shekher had shared the post as he was annoyed by a remark made by a woman reporter on an act of the then Governor..
The Cyber Crime Wing registered the case under IPC Sections 504 (Intentional insult to provoke breach of the peace), 505(1)(c) (Publishing or circulating statement with intent to incite any class or community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community), 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and Section 4 of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act.
