2 men spend 12 days in jail for Facebook comments against Congress

By Dilip -
Even as the uproar over the recent arrest of two Thane girls over an allegedly "inflammatory" message posted on social networking site Facebookis yet to fade away, a similar case has now come to light wherein two men from Mumbai had to spend 12 days behind the bars and even lose their jobs. In the shocking example of the alleged misuse ofInformation and Technology Act, the men -- K.V. Rao and Mayank -- were arrested for allegedly posting offensive comments against some Congress leaders on their Facebook group earlier this year.

The duo was employed with the national carrier, Air India. They were arrested in May on the basis of a complaint filed last year. After suffering all these months, they have ended their silence for the first time on Headlines Today on Friday. Out on bail, they narrated their tale of alleged harassment. The two accused had shared a joke and distorted Congress party's election flag to express their angst against the politicians. They alleged that their personal enmity with a leader in Air India union led to a complaint to the cyber cell over some "objectionable contents" in the closed group of Air India cabin crew. They were soon arrested from their houses.

"This is injustice. They arrested us at 1 am. They gave no reasons for the arrest as well. This is misuse of power," alleged Rao. His wife Rajshree said, "They said 'we are police, we can arrest anyone at any point of time'. My kids were scared to the core. In the middle of the night they asked us to come to the police station." "I was humiliated badly. Policemen with machine guns came in the night and took me away," the other accused, Mayank, said.

The passports of the accused were impounded for six months. With the duo embroiled in the legal tangles, the Air India management also shunted them out. Family members said that it was a hard time for them and they could never understand why police acted in such a manner. Now, despite being released on bail, the duo has been doing the rounds of courts and police station.

They came out to tell their plight to the world after the arrest of Thane girls -- Shaheen Dhada and Reenu -- highlighted the misuse of IT Act by the police. While Shaheen was arrested for criticising the "shutdown" in Mumbai on November 18, a day after Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray died, on Facebook, her friend was arrested just for liking the post.

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