Hyderabad journalist booked for her post on a woman’s complaint

Hyderabad: City Police have charged an independent journalist for responding to the alleged harassment that another woman faced from electricity department officials for her social media post following power cut, The Wire reported.

Revathi Pogadadanda in a post on July 18 alleged that a woman from L B Nagar in the city was ‘intimidated’ into removing her post about disruption in power supply.

After the L.B. Nagar woman’s post went viral, catching the attention of the Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited, a lineman attached to its local sub-station turned up at her flat and threatened her, demanding her to take down the post, Revathi wrote.

Revathi claimed to have recorded her statement while talking to the woman over phone before posting her own remarks related to the incident, The Wire reported.

Revathi was quoted as saying: “I could not hear her properly and thought she said that the power cut had been seven hours long. That is what I wrote in the initial post”

Revathi Pogadadanda took to social media platform X and posted on June 18:“A woman from LB Nagar, #Hyderabad was terrorized by an unexpected incident today. Tired of the frequent power cuts, she tweeted about the incident and a lineman drops at her residence and demands her to delete the tweet. She called the electricity department and told them about this. Requested them not to send them such people to threaten her. The official then tells her that she should call them and not tweet about it because THERE IS TOO MUCH PRESSURE ON THE ELECTRICITY DEPARTMENT FROM THE ‘PEOPLE ABOVE’. I cross checked the incident…there is a recording of the incident but the woman didn’t want me to share it here because she fears for her safety!

Expanding on the situation further she wrote: “Even when I spoke with her, she said that she is already worried since she lives in a rented accommodation and the #TGSPDCL already knows her address. I hope the department & the minister in-charge understands that this is harassment. The woman raised a complaint only after suffering many times. Prior to this incident they had a 7hr power cut apparently. AND please understand that in the age of social media- people will complain on social media! Asking them not to speak because of your inadequacies is NOT right. SENDING A PERSON HOME TO DEMAND DELETING THE SOCIAL MEDIA POST IS HARASSMENT! Kindly focus on the solution NOT coverups”.

While the L.B. Nagar woman removed her post on X, sending to Revethi its screenshot, Revathi’s own post caused outcry on social media with police taking note of it, according to the report.

Revathi then posted screenshots of police asking her for her contact details; when she questioned it she was told they were there to help her and the L.B. Nagar woman.

Following which on Wednesday she discovered about a First Information Report against her under under Section 505 of Indian Penal Code.

She is charged with making statements conducing to public mischief and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act.

Meanwhile, an assistant engineer with the Telangana Power Distribution Company M. Dileep, who filed the police complaint, reportedly claimed that the lineman Rajaiah Chary had not threatened the L.B. Nagar woman.

“He merely asked her to delete the tweet, which she obliged,” the officer was quoted as saying.