YouTuber arrested in Kerala in case filed by Indian expat woman in Dubai

Dubai: The proprietor and editor of a YouTube news channel based in the south Indian state of Kerala was arrested on Monday night in a case involving a defamation complaint filed by an Indian expat woman in the UAE.

According to reports in Indian media, Shajan Skariah, who runs the Marunadan Malayali online news channel, was taken into custody from his home in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday night.

He was accused of posting defamatory videos against the complainant, who reportedly works with a bank in Dubai, various newspapers reported. The videos allegedly linked the woman to fraud and embezzlement cases involving another Indian expat who was previously arrested.

Earlier, the woman had appeared in promotional videos for a clinic operated by the same expat and was introduced as the clinic’s HR representative.

Though the petitioner reportedly sought to invoke Section 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (offence of insulting a woman's modesty) and Section 120 of the IT Act (conspiracy to commit offence), Skariah was granted bail in the wee hours on Tuesday.

In response, Skariah questioned the manner of his arrest by the Thiruvananthapuram Cyber Police and alleged that it was a retaliatory move by the government for publishing reports critical of the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.