Case booked against Bajrang Dal teen for hate speech on hijab issue

VIJAYAPURA: After a video of a 19-year-old girl, a member of Bajrang Dal, openly calling for genocide against Muslims at a recent protest in Vijayapura, sparking outrage, the district police have registered a suo motu case against the teenager.  

Pooja Veerashetty landed in trouble for allegedly making the inflammatory speech during the protest organised by various Hindu outfits on February 23, condemning the murder of Hindu activist Harsha of Shivamogga in the district.

Four days after the incident and after outrage against the teenager on social media and by local Muslims, the Gol Gumbaz police on February 27 registered a case under Sections 295 (A), 505(2) and 506 of IPC for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings and creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes and criminal intimidation against Pooja, a graduate student.

Pooja had given the call for genocide of Muslims while referring to the Hijab controversy. She said Hindu outfits will not allow Hindustan to become a hijab nation. She delivered the speech in the presence of Additional SP SP Ram L Arasidi and Additional Deputy Commissioner Ramesh Kalasad, who had arrived at the protest site to receive a memorandum from the Hindu outfits and seers of various mutts.

On the delay in filing the case against Pooja, SP HD Anand Kumar said, “We did not have any details about the teenager. We were told that she was a minor and the procedure in that case would be different. During the preliminary inquiry, we came to know of her identity and immediately registered a suo motu case.”Asked whether there was any political pressure on the police to file a case, he said, “There was no pressure. I will also not reveal whether the accused has been arrested or not.”