Kerala professor files police complaint over death threats from BJP workers

Thiruvananthapuram: Thrissur-based lecturer Deepa Nishanth has registered a police complaint against death threats she received from BJP functionaries after she shared a Facebook post seeking justice for the Kathua rape victim.

Deepa, who teaches at Sree Kerala Varma College, gave a screenshot of the threats that she received to the police.

A day before filing the complaint on Monday, Deepa has also sought Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's help to track down the accused and arrest them.

Nishanth has also accused one BJP leader of sharing her number.

According to a report in NDTV, Deepa, in her police complaint, said "Attempts of threatening and shaming me has been going on in social media. TG Mohandas has posted my phone number and address on twitter which has created problems for me at a personal level."

TG Mohandas is the convener of BJP's intellectual cell.

"I am told that false complaints have been filed against me at Thrissur police station. Social media groups with explicit content have been carrying my photographs and details, causing much damage to me. Now I am complaining because of death threats against me," the lecturer said.

In the screenshot,  a man purportedly from Bahrain identified as Ramesh Kumar Nair wrote on Facebook on April 28: "We want her blood as well. She has crossed our limits of patience."

In reply to this comment, another man, Biju Nair said, "We will keep trying Ramesh."

Biju Nair is reportedly a worker of the BJP's information technology cell.

However, BJP intellectual cell convenor TG Mohandas denied sharing the lecturer's phone number with those who abused and threatened her on social media.

Deepa Nishanth apparently found herself in trouble after she endorsed the view of a Bengaluru-based IT professional Deepak Sankaranarayanan, who in early April wrote on Facebook that the horrific gang-rape, torture and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua was carried out with the consent of "31 per cent of India's voters".

The BJP's vote share in the 2014 Lok Sabha election was 31 per cent.

The Thiruvananthapuram police have already filed a case against Sankaranarayanan.