Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Mar 2: Christian leaders on Monday March 2 submitted a memorandum to police commissioner S Murugan and to deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim complaining about hate comments posted on Daijiworld Facebook page by a user. Based on the complaint, case has been registered in Pandeshwar police station.
Shriram Yadapaditthaya, a Facebook user, allegedly posted hate comments on the news link to 'Mangaluru: Ghar Wapsi not a big issue: Sadhvi Balika Saraswati at Kadri Temple' posted on daijiworld.com's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/daijiworldnews ) on Sunday March 1.
Screenshot of Shriram's Facebook profile page
The hate comments used abusive language to criticize Christianity and Jesus Christ. As soon daijiworld received complaints about the user, the abusive comments were deleted from the page.
On Monday March 2, Christian leaders submitted a memorandum to the police commissioner and the DC stating that the comments by Shriram had hurt the sentiments of the community.
They stated in the memorandum that Shriram's derogatory comments were a direct attack on the Christian community, and that no one has the right to insult people of other religions.
They also stated that comments like 'Christians should be slaughtered' posted by Shriram were in violation of the IPC Section 144, and such words were an attempt to disrupt peace and harmony in society.
"The person has done gross injustice to Christianity, Indian values and to Hindu religion which preaches harmony. The comments posted by him are against the core tenets of the Indian Constitution. Hence, as the person is a threat to the peace and harmony of society, he should be taken into custody immediately and stringent action must be taken," they appealed.
PRO of Mangaluru diocese Fr William Menezes, secretary of Laity Commission Fr J B Crasta, director of ICYM Mangaluru diocese Fr Ronald D'Souza, Roy Castelino, Sheldon Crasta and Stany Alvares were part of the delegation.
Speaking to daijiworld, police commissioner S Murugan said that the case has already been registered in Pandeshwar police station and strict action would be taken against the person. Mangaluru diocesan youth president Melreeda Rodrigues
former diocesan youth president Nelson Monis along with others filed the complaint in Pandeshwar police station.
Pandeshwar police said that Shriram resides in Bengaluru and the cyber crime police in Bengaluru have been alerted as the case falls under the IT Act.
Shriram, however, has expressed regret for his comments and apologized on the same news link on Daijiworld's Facebook page. The apology, in the form of a comment, reads: "Hi guys I have taken out all my abusive comments from this site.. I dont need any kind of religion talks anymore.. I take back all my words.. it was done with unknown anger, I repent for that, bye and stop calling me please.."
Clarification from Tesco
Meanwhile, in a statement to daijiworld, Tesco for whom Shriram was earlier working has said that Shriram left the job in December 2014, and that the company has also spoken to him and asked him to apologize. The statement reads as follows:
"We looked up our records and he no longer works for our organization – he left in December 2014.
"As an organization we strongly (condemn) such behavior and we took the initiative to contact him. Our HR director personally spoke with him and asked him to take down his comments online and apologize. I have also written back to all your (daijiworld) readers who corresponded with us about the incident stating our actions and the outcomes.
We are aware that he has done what we asked him to already and his page on Facebook doesn’t reflect the comments anymore," the company stated.
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