The Bengaluru police on Tuesday booked a case on a complaint filed by actress and former Congress MP Ramya against 43 social media accounts for allegedly sending vulgar and threatening messages to her over a social media post on the Renukaswamy murder case, in which popular Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa is an accused.
A Central Crime Branch (CCB) officer of the rank of deputy commissioner of police will supervise the investigation, officials said.
In her complaint filed on Monday, Ramya claimed that the social media accounts were being operated by Darshan Thoogudeepa’s fans. Darshan was arrested on June 11 last year with his friend Pavithra Gowda and 15 others in connection with the murder of Renukaswamy, a resident of Chitradurga, who had allegedly sent derogatory messages to Gowda.
Darshan was released on October 30, 2024, on interim bail after spending 131 days in jail. On December 13, 2024, the Karnataka High Court granted regular bail to Darshan and Pavithra Gowda.
Recently, after the state government challenged the bail granted to Darshan, the Supreme Court criticised the high court order in the case. Ramya made a social media post about the Supreme Court remarks, after which she said she received abusive, vulgar, and threatening messages on social media.
The police registered the case under sections 67 (publishing or transmitting of obscene material in electronic form) and 66 C (identity theft) of the Information Technology Act and sections 351 (criminal intimidation), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 75 (sexual harassment), and 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Home Minister G Parameshwara said the police were initiating the action considering the seriousness of the issue. “Such behaviour affects not just Ramya but potentially any woman. We need to ‘put a full stop to this’ pattern of online abuse,” he added.