Tamil actor Meera Mithun was arrested on Friday by the cyber-crime wing of Chennai Police for non-cooperation in the case against her for uttering a casteist slur, a source in the know confirmed to Silverscreen India.
The actor failed to appear in legal proceedings for the case, thus prompting a Chennai city court to issue a non-bailable warrant against her.
In August 2021, the Chennai Police had registered the case against Meera, based on a complaint lodged by Vidhuthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader and former Member of Parliament Vanni Arasu with the cyber cell. The complaint was made after a video surfaced on social media in which Meera is seen making casteist remarks against individuals belonging to the Scheduled Caste community in the Tamil film industry, along with her friend Sam Abhishek. Vanni Arasu’s complaint sought their arrest under seven sections of the Prevention of Atrocities Act.
Subsequently, Meera and Sam were charged under Sections 153 (maligning and provoking any individual knowing that it is likely to cause offence of rioting), 153A(1)(a) (promoting disharmony or feelings of enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community), 505(1)(b) (circulating any statement, rumour, or report, which is likely to cause fear or alarm in any section of the public), 505 (2) (statement or report that will promote enmity, hatred, and ill-will between groups on the ground of religion, caste, community, etc) of the Indian Penal Code, and several sections of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.
Meera was arrested and later released on bail. However, the actor had not appeared for the subsequent trial in the case, according to our source. She also did not comply with her bail condition, which required her to sign in at the police station every week. Hence, Chennai’s civil and sessions court issued a non-bailable warrant against Meera and the cyber-crime wing arrested her on Friday.
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The actor was produced before the court after her arrest. Judge Ali, who heard the case, ordered the police to continue the interrogation and produce Meera before the court again on April 4.
Meera, who has appeared in films such as Thaanaa Serndha Koottam and Yennanga Sir Unga Sattam, shot to fame after participating in the Tamil reality show Bigg Boss Season 3. She is known for getting embroiled in controversies. In the past, she has levelled nepotism allegations against Tamil actors Vijay and Suriya, among several others.