22-year-old Sharmistha Panoli was arrested after she received backlash for her viral social media post, in which she allegedly insulted one particular community - which in turn landed her in legal trouble.
What is Sharmistha Panoli's case?
Legal action was taken on Panoli over one of her now-deleted videos, in which, the 22-year-old was seen criticising actors who were silent over Operation SIndoor. Sharmistha was allegedly replying to a user who questioned India's move to "open fire at Pakistan without any valid reason." Media reports said that Panoli allegedly used abusive words in the video.
She also allegedly insulted a religious community and Prophet Muhhamad. While she later issued an unconditional apology, she still landed in a legal soup - which eventually led to her arrest. Multiple FIRs were filed against her and she was served several notices. However, she remained absconding and was finally arrested in Gurugram. Panoli has now been sent to judicial custody till June 13.
Panoli said that it isn't a democracy by the way "the harassment" was happening with her. She made the comments while leaving court.
How did it start?
May 14: AIMIM national spokesperson Waris Pathan shared Panoli's video on X and claimed that she had insulted Islam in the video and that the video was a way to instigate communal disharmony. Pathan went on to tag Home Minister Amit Shah and demanded that Panoli be arrested.
May 15. Following Pathan's demand, Panoli to to X to issue an unconditional apology over her post. "I do hereby tender my unconditional apology. Whatever was put are my personal feelings and I never intentionally wanted to hurt anybody, so if anybody is hurt, I’m sorry for the same. I expect co-operation and understanding. Henceforth, I will be cautious in my public post. Again, please accept my apologies." However, her apology salvaged very little as multiple FIRs were filed against her and she was served notices by the Kolkata Police.
May 30. The Kolkata Police found out that Panoli was in Gurugram and that led to her arrest. The police said that several legal notices were also sent to her family but Panoli and her family had been absconding.
Political support
BJP leader and actor Kangana Ranaut came out in support of Panoli. "I agree that Sharmishta used some unpleasant words for her expression, but such words most youngsters use these days. She apologised for her statements and that should be enough, no need to bully and harass her further. She should be released immediately," she said.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi demanded stricter laws for people who hurt religious sentiments. "A law should be formulated against such people which gives a punishment of at least 10 years," he told ANI.
Support from overseas
Not just Ranaut, Panoli also got support from a member of the Dutch Parliament, Geert Wilders, who termed the influencer's arrest a "disgrace for freedom of speech". The head of the right-wing Party for Freedom also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take action and secure her release.
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