The Rabale (Navi Mumbai) police last week filed a chargesheet against Marathi TV actress Ketaki Chitale in a case where she was accused of posting derogatory comments against minority communities on social media in 2020. The case was registered on March 3, 2020, based on a complaint filed by Ghansoli resident Swapnil Jagtap.
Jagtap, who is part of Ambedkar Yuva Sangh, alleged that he had received a screenshot about Chitale’s Facebook post, on his WhatsApp on March 1, 2020, along with comments made by one Suraj Shinde below the post. Shinde’s name is not mentioned in the chargesheet.
Chitale was booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for allegedly posting derogatory comments on Muslims, Parsis, Jains, Christians and Buddhists. Jagtap said in his complaint that Suraj Shinde wrote objectionable comments on Babasaheb Ambedkar, Mata Ramabai Bhimrao Ambedkar and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule below Ketaki’s post.
Chitale’s lawyer questioned the police action and said, “Her statement was recorded by an ACP-rank officer in September 2020. In December 2020, the ACP had sought permission from the police commissioner to file a chargesheet, which was not approved. In February 2021, the ACP sought permission again and it was denied. Meanwhile, Chitale was arrested on May 19, 2022, and soon, on May 30, the chargesheet was filed. This is quite surprising.”
Meanwhile, judge A. Bhagwat on June 7 reserved the order on her bail application for June 16.