On Wednesday, the Kochi cyber Police booked an Islamic cleric named Waseem Al Hikami for hurting the religious sentiments of the Christian community and passing derogatory comments against Jesus Christ. The Police filed the case against the accused based on the complaint registered by BJP leader Anoop Antony.
According to the reports, the cleric is a resident of Kondotty in the Malappuram district of Kerala. He had uploaded a video on YouTube in December 2021 in which he had passed derogatory remarks against Christians. BJP leader Anoop Antony, who is a former Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) national secretary registered a complaint against Hikami stating that the cleric had hurt the religious sentiments of the Christian community.
In the complaint, he also mentioned that Waseem Al Hikami had passed indiscreet comments against Jesus Christ’s birth. “Many people had complained about the remarks which were derogatory to Jesus Christ and offensive but no legal proceedings were undertaken. Following that, I handed over a complaint directly to the Director-General of Police of the State and also registered a petition in the Ernakulam Cyber Cell. The response was not as I expected and I approached the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate and the honorable court directed that the matter needed to be addressed, following which the State police registered an FIR”, BJP leader Antony was quoted.
He added that he will be following up on the case and will be pursuing it further till it is resolved. The Police have registered the case dated June 28 under the direction of Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court under sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different religious groups), 295A (outraging religious sentiments), and 505 (statements conducive to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Earlier, the Muslim cleric was also booked in January 2022 under similar circumstances based on the complaint filed by a person named Abel Francis. Antony stated that the Kerala Police had also speedily arrested PC George for similar reasons but didn’t do anything about this case. He reiterated that he will pursue the case against the cleric named Waseem Al Hikami who hurt the religious sentiments of the Christians.
