Two detained for posting offensive content against deaf & mute community

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: The Cyber-Crime wing of the Bengaluru City Police (BCP) on Thursday nabbed two individuals, who allegedly made lewd and sexually offensive expressions mocking the deaf and mute community with sign language on a video posted on social media platform Instagram.

In the FIR accessed by News Trail, Rohan Cariappa and another person allegedly made a video depicting lewd expressions which is offensive to the deaf community. Shankar BH, complainant and the president of the Karnataka State Deaf Welfare Association, alleged that the video has mocked the community and claimed that it portrayed deaf and mute people in a way that threatened their dignity.

Taking cognizance under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the police nabbed Cariappa and another person late on Wednesday and produced them before a court on Thursday.

Police sources have told News Trail that a verification of the accused, with interpretation from the witnesses, had been conducted.

One of the witnesses, told NT that the accused had allegedly written ‘sorry’ in a half-hearted manner prompting a furious exchange in the interpretation room. This has enraged the deaf community, who had gathered in front of the police commissioner’s office.