Bengaluru: The social media monitoring wing of Cyber Crime police registered a suo motu case against seven people for allegedly posting derogatory comments on chief minister Siddaramaiah in the backdrop of President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to Mysuru.During his speech at the diamond jubilee celebrations of the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Siddaramaiah had asked the President if she knew Kannada.Videos of the same went viral on social media, with netizens divided: While some defended the CM stating he was trying to make sure if the President knew the language, others pointed out that his question was unwarranted. Trolls went overboard by hurling expletives at the CM.According to the complaint, police noticed a derogatory post and comments on Facebook on Aug 3. A person with the Facebook account, Hanuman Bhakta, posted, “Hey (Siddaramaiah), you asked the President if she can speak Kannada, do you know her Oriya language??” The question was allegedly followed by filthy words.A senior police officer said six people commented derogatorily on the post. They include the profile named JnaneshwariVishwanath NB, who questioned if the CM knows Hindi. Another person with a profile named Shiva Shankarappa MM commented, ‘superb question’. Similarly, other profiles with names RajshekarRaju, Rashtradharma Rashtradharma, ModijiModiji, and SiddappaSiddu commented abusively.A case was registered under the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace). Efforts are being made to trace the accused, police said.
