YouTuber booked for ‘outraging religious feelings’ over video on 2012 rape and murder case
YouTuber Sameer M D was booked in a suo motu case registered by the Cowl Bazar police in Karnataka's Ballari city.
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Sameer recently uploaded a video on his YouTube channel, Dhoota, titled ‘Oorige Dhoddavare Kole Madidhavara? (Is the head of the town the killer?)' Photo credit: @Dhoota/YouTubePolice in Karnataka have registered a suo motu case against a YouTuber over a recent video where he raised questions about the investigation in a 2012 rape and murder case in which a 17-year-old missing girl’s body was found in Dakshina Kannada.
The Cowl Bazar police station in Ballari city has registered a case against Sameer M D, whose YouTube video on the case has got more than 1 crore views. He has been booked under section 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Soon after Sameer uploaded the video on his YouTube channel, Dhootha, many social media accounts raised suspicions about the police investigation and the influence of powerful individuals in the case.
In the video, he discusses the case where a student was found dead near Dharmasthala a day after she went missing. She was raped and murdered while returning home from college on October 9, 2012.
While the police arrested Santhosh Rao and charged him with rape and murder, locals believed that an influential family from Dharmasthala was behind the crime. The case was later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. In 2023, a special CBI court in Bengaluru acquitted Rao of the charges.
Sameer said on Thursday that he had received a notice from the police. “Whatever I have spoken in the video, I have the documents and I will produce them before the police. I have confidence in the legal system. I have not named anyone,” he said.
“I am raising my voice for justice. It is immaterial whether I am Hindu or Muslim,” he added.
Sameer also said he received many threat calls after the video went viral. “After the views crossed 1 million, I started receiving death threats over the phone. My house address and contact number were leaked on social media. Eventually, I contacted people who were fighting for justice for (the victim),” he added.
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