THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : City police commissioner Balram Kumar Upadhyay has directed Sreekaryam police to conduct a preliminary inquiry on the complaint filed by Anupama S Chandran against Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian, accusing him of defaming her in his speech.
Cherian had made his now-controversial remarks while inaugurating the drama camp at Kerala University campus in Kariyavattom on Saturday. “Marrying and making two-three kids, then romancing a friend’s wife... As if that was not enough, romancing again a girl of tender age... impregnating her... her father who questioned it might be going to jail. We are not against the girl getting her child. But the mindset of her mother and father should be understood,” Cherian had said during his speech.
Though he did not take any names, it was understood that Cherian spoke about Anupama’s husband Ajith, and sympathised with her father P S Jayachandran. Anupama had earlier accused Jayachandran and other family members of forcefully separating her from her newborn child and later giving away the child for adoption.
Anupama had filed the complaint against Cherian with Peroorkada police, which transferred it to Sreekaryam police as the speech had occurred in its limits. Balram said there was nothing unusual in his move. “This is a basic, routine thing. As the petitioner filed a complaint, the cops will have to check whether the allegations are true before registering a case,” he said. Meanwhile, Cherian said he did not defame Anupama and Ajith and had only asked the girls to think practically.