Click to play videoBangalore: It was an article in Mangalore eveninger Karavali Ale that started the tumult.
A column on nudity versus civility published in the newspaper has now turned into an even bigger debate on press freedom. And at the center of the debate is Editor-in-Chief, Karavali Ale B V Seetaram and his wife Rohini.
"The police acting on a complaint of bus owners' association arrested me and my wife on the night of March 3 in the dead of the night much against the Supreme Court stipulation that no woman can be arrested after sunset and before sunrise,” says Seetaram.
After five days in jail in Mangalore, the couple was whisked away to the Sagar jail for another additional five days.
They were arrested on charges of promoting enmity between two religious groups and outraging the religious feelings of a community.
"The investigation is on and once it's completed then the final report will be placed before the court and it is for the court to decide the veracity of the complaint,” says SP, Dakshina Kannada, B Dayanand.
The office of Karavali Ale was also ransacked a few days earlier and there have been widespread protests in Mangalore.
Left parties have been demanding an inquiry into the matter and action against the police who they say had acted undemocratically.
"Whatever process has been done its as per law only. We have produced them before the magistrate and the magistrate has remanded them to custody,” says Dayanand.
While the investigation takes it's own course, Seetaram and his wife Rohini are out on bail but have moved the high court for a blanket anticipatory bail.
But the Seetaram case shows how the proverbial pen is mightier than the sword may not be true.
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