Divya Bharathi recently released a documentary titled "Kakkoos"
A police case has been filed against documentary filmmaker Divya Bharathi who had recently released a film, "Kakkoos" (toilet), on manual scavenging. The Madurai police has registered a case for inciting violence and hatred among communities.
The complaint, lodged by a person from a Scheduled Caste community, alleges that the film portrays their tribe in poor light by showing them performing manual scavenging for their survival.
Baskar Marutham, the Youth wing leader of Puthiya Thamizhagam - a party that champions the cause of Dalits, in his complaint said, "Ours is an agricultural community. By showing us as manual scavengers the film attempts to trigger communal clashes. We are actually fighting to get our community out of the SC (Scheduled Caste) list".
Ms Bharathi, a law graduate, who has been reportedly receiving threats on the phone has denied these allegations. "The film is not insulting any community. It's critical of the government and the people at large to have allowed the inhuman manual scavenging to continue," she said.
Responding to the police, Mr Bharathi said," It's a slap on freedom of expression. We are moving a quash petition in the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court".