MADURAI: Activist and documentary filmmaker, Divya Bharathi, who is acclaimed for her film, Kakkoos (toilet), which threw light on the prevailing practice of manual scavenging in Tamil Nadu, was arrested and later released in bail.
In 2009, Bharathi, a law student then, led a protest after the death of a Dalit student, who succumbed to a snake bite while he was at the government-run Adi Dravida Youth Hostel. Bharathi and other students led a road roko demanding basic facilities at the hostel. Later, a case was registered and Bharathi was arrayed as accused number 3 (A3) in the case.
After eight years, the Mathichiyam police arrested Bharathi on Tuesday and produced her before the Judicial Magistrate-II. Later, a bail plea was filed on her behalf and she was let off on the condition that she would sign before the police station concerned for a week. Mathichiyam police said they recalled the warrant pending as Bharathi failed to appear for the summons issued.
Denying this, Bharathi, said she had already obtained anticipatory bail in the case from the High Court Bench in 2012. She also said she came to know that the police had registered two FIRs for the same incident and that no summons were issued to her by the police.