In Karnataka, India, a Hindu youth pretending to be Muslim posted a series of obscene posts on a fake social media profile insulting the Goddess Cauvery and the women of Kodagu. The police officials have arrested the suspect.

The arrested youth has been identified as Divin Devaiah, a resident of Kedamulluru in Virajpet taluk in the Kodagu district. According to the Karnataka police, the accused had opened a social media account impersonating a Muslim man. Through his fake account, Devaiah posted inappropriate and derogatory messages targeting the Goddess Cauvery, who is worshiped by the local Kodava community as their deity. He had also targeted women from the Kodava community in his insulting posts.

Kodagu is considered a stronghold of BJP and Hindu organizations and a communally sensitive area. Various organizations had called for a bandh (a complete shut down), condemning the posts and starting a protest as the issue had taken a communal turn, threatening the law and order situation of the locality.

After the arrest of the accused, the bandh in the Kodagu district was withdrawn. Police said they had to take the help of Mumbai Police to solve the matter. Sources said that the Mumbai Police had received the information from Facebook’s parent company Meta regarding the fake Facebook account and shared the details with the local police that led to the arrest.

Devaiah has been booked under Section 153A (Whoever commits an offense specified in sub-section (1) in any place of worship or in any assembly engaged in the performance of religious worship or religious ceremonies, shall be punished with imprisonment, which may extend to five years and shall also be liable to fine) and Section 505 (Whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement or report containing rumor or alarming news with intent to create or promote, or which is likely to create or promote, on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both) of the Indian Penal Code.