An FIR has been lodged against filmmaker Leena Manimekalai in Lucknow over a poster of her documentary 'Kaali' allegedly depicting the goddess in a disrespectful manner. Earlier, an FIR against her was lodged in Delhi as well.
The FIR was registered at the Hazratganj police station against Manimekalai, a filmmaker based in Canada's Toronto, producer of 'Kaali' Asha Associates and editor Shravan Onachan on Monday night, police said.
The FIR was lodged under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and sections 66 and 67 of the Information Technology Act, they added.
The controversy erupted after the Madurai-born filmmaker shared a poster of "Kaali" on Twitter on Saturday, showing the goddess smoking and holding an LGBTQ flag.
Under attack for the poster, Manimekalai on Monday said she will continue to use her voice fearlessly till she is alive.
"I have nothing to lose. Till the time I live, I wish to live with a voice that speaks what I believe without fear. If the price for that is my life, it can be given," she wrote in a tweet in Tamil in response to an article on the controversy.
The filmmaker also urged people to watch the documentary to understand the context behind the poster.
[With Inputs From PTI]
