Five persons have been arrested, following an intervention by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, for spreading the phone number of a housewife terming her as a sex worker.
Jesse Devasia, former state secretary of the women’s wing of the Cheramar Sangham, had complained that she was constantly getting phone calls at night. She, a native of Changanaseery in Kottayam, had lodged a complaint with the police alleging some antisocial elements had spread her mobile number in the name of a sex worker. The complaint was initially lodged in the cyber cell. However, there was no positive response. According to her, the police advised her to change her phone number.
As she did not get justice and the suffering last more than eight months, she narrated her plight on social media in a video.
“I could not even sleep as most of the calls are coming after midnight. There were days when I had to attend nearly 50 calls. Most of them start talking in a lewd manner. So I changed the mobile number as there was no end to the calls. However, it affected my livelihood as a tailor. I came with the video as I am fed up with the menace and wanted to end the plight,” said the mother of four grown-up children including three girls and a boy.
Soon, things shifted quickly as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took note of the matter. “We will not tolerate this kind of attitude. The guilty will be punished,” he posted on Facebook on Saturday.
The police decided to register a case and intensified the probe after the CM warned of dire consequences in the matter.
Ernakulam range DIG Neeraj Kumar Gupta reached the native of the complainant on Sunday and coordinated the investigation. The evidence was collected from details available on the woman’s phone.
The investigation found that of the 44 people who had called the housewife’s phone number, only 24 numbers were found to be working.
The investigation team summoned 13 persons from different districts for questioning on Sunday and the arrest has been recorded. The rest were let off for the time after recording their statements.
The arrested persons are Ratheesh, Shaji, Anikuttan, Nishanth and Vipin of Thrissur.
The DIG said there is no clarity whether the phone number was distributed because of any personal enmity with the woman. “The investigation will continue,” he told the media.
According to D Shilpa, the Kottayam district police chief, only those persons against whom specific evidence was found have been arrested. “More mobile numbers are being screened. More persons will be taken into custody if they are found guilty,” she said.
“Several phone numbers gathered from Shaji were also traced as part of the probe. We are investigating whether the accused had shared more numbers with others in this manner,” Deputy Superintendent of Police R Sreekumar, who is heading the special investigation team, told media.
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