Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 14: The Supreme Court has received a writ petition from filmmaker Leena Manimekalai contesting the several FIRs that have been filed against her in various states due to the poster for her documentary ‘Kaali.’
The allegations against the same poster, which depicted Manimekalai herself dressed as the goddess Kaali, smoking a cigarette, and brandishing a pride flag, led to multiple FIRs being filed in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. In the interim, she has also asked for a suspension of the proceedings.
The plea will be listed next Friday, according to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, after the subject was mentioned for an urgent listing on January 13.
The petitioner claims that her goal in making a creative video was to portray a ‘radically inclusive goddess’ and not to hurt anyone’s religious feelings. Manimekalai, who describes herself as LGBT, claims that the documentary portrays the goddess as loving and understanding. The petitioner claims that the numerous FIRs violate her fundamental right to freedom of expression, which is protected by the constitution, and amount to harassment.
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After sharing the poster on twitter, the filmmaker claims she received several death threats and requests for her beheading, rape, and murder. She has therefore asked for action to be taken against individuals who threatened to kill, rape, and harm her in other terrible ways when they assaulted her online.
