Actor Sreenath Bhasi arrested in verbal abuse case

Kochi: Kerala police on Monday said they have arrested Malayalam actor Sreenath Bhasi for allegedly hurling abusive words at a woman journalist during an interview.

The arrest was recorded after summoning him to the Maradu police station on the basis of a complaint from a journalist of an online media.

”We have recorded his arrest. He will be taken for a medical examination,” the police told PTI.

The arrest was recorded under sections 354 A (1) (IV), 509 and 294 B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 354 A (1) (IV) of IPC deals with the offence of making sexually coloured remarks. Section 509 deals with word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman, while section 294 B deals with uttering any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place.

He would be let out on bail after the medical examination as it was a bailable offence, the police said.

The alleged incident occurred on September 21 while Bhasi was taking part in a promotional interview for his new film ‘Chattambi.’ The video has gone viral. During the interview, Bhasi appeared offended when the anchor of the online media asked a question related to the title of the film.

An irritated Bhasi was seen in the video saying that he was ”pissed off” and that he wanted to leave. He then asked the cameraperson to stop recording the video. However, in the complaint, the woman alleged that Bhasi abused her and the crew after the camera was turned off.

Shortly after this, another clip of Bhasi abusing a radio jockey during a different interview with a private FM channel went viral, too. In the second video, Bhasi was seen irritated apparently by the poor standard of the questions posed by the interviewer. But, no complaint was filed in this regard.

Later, in an interview with a television channel, Bhasi denied the allegations and expressed regret at losing his temper during interviews.