Right-wing YouTuber Maridhas arrested for derogatory remarks against TVK, CM Vijay

A rightwing YouTuber, darling of the Sangh Parivar, Maridhas, who has been posting abusive and derogatory videos about the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government and Chief Minister Joseph Vijay as well as a woman minister, was arrested from his residence in Madurai on Monday.

The arrest followed an FIR registered by the Chennai Police Cyber Crime Wing on the charge of posting ‘derogatory and obscene’ remarks against a woman minister in the Vijay cabinet.

Advertisement

A special police team from Chennai picked him up from his residence in Madurai in the morning and brought him here for further inquiry. According to the police, Maridhas has posted videos with defamatory content against a woman minister and several other TVK functionaries.

Ever since the Vijay government assumed office, he has been accusing the TVK of being a quisling of the ‘missionary mafia’ and a threat to national security. He was booked under various sections of the BNS, including section 79 (punishment for insulting the modesty of a woman) and section 352 (2) (the act of making, publishing or circulating statements or reports containing false information, rumours, or alarming news, including through electronic means, with intent to create or promote hostility among groups).

Predictably, the BJP condemned the arrest, describing it as an assault on freedom of expression. BJP Mahila Morcha national president and former legislator Vanathi Srinivasan took to ‘X’, saying, “The TVK government is following the footsteps of the previous DMK government in threatening social media commenters exposing the failures of the administration. Using arrests as a tool to crush freedom of thought and stifling criticism is not good for any government.”

Echoing similar sentiment, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S Ramados criticised the arrest, saying the right of media persons should be protected, and vindictive action against them should be given up by the government