S Ve Shekhar’s post calls women journalists “illiterate”, “stupid” and “ugly” (File)
Tamil actor and BJP leader S Ve Shekhar was today sentenced to one month in jail by a Chennai court for posting derogatory, obscene and derogatory comments about women journalists on social media in 2018. He was also fined Rs 15,000. Court.
While the actor-turned-politician has paid the fine, the court has decided to suspend his jail sentence to allow him to appeal in the higher court. The court also said that the allegations against S Ve Shekhar have been proved beyond doubt.
The decision comes after the Madras High Court refused to quash several criminal cases against the BJP leader in 2023.
S Ve Shekhar had in 2018 shared a post on Facebook that contained derogatory remarks about a female journalist who had objected after she was patted on the cheek by Banwarilal Purohit, the then Governor of Tamil Nadu, at an official event. The post said the governor “should wash his hands of phenyl” before touching them.
The post, which was later deleted by SV Shekhar, also called women journalists “illiterate”, “stupid” and “ugly”, and sparked massive outrage against them. After deleting the post, he apologized and said that he shared the post without reading its content completely.
S Ve Shekhar presented the same defense in the court. However, his argument was rejected on the grounds that he should have exercised social responsibility while sharing the post online.
S Ve Shekhar was elected MLA from AIADMK before switching to Congress and eventually joining BJP.
