'Mine was a small voice, now it's a roaring storm': Actor Kasthuri after release from jail

CHENNAI: Actor Kasthuri was released from the Puzhal Central Prison here on Thursday, a day after a court granted her conditional bail in a case over controversial comments against Telugu-speaking people, especially women.

On her release from prison, Kasthuri thanked all those who made her a 'raging storm,' an indirect reference to some of the people who opposed her, that eventually led to her imprisonment following a police case based on a complaint. She said hers had been a 'small voice,' but she had now been transformed into a 'raging storm.'

Expressing her gratitude, the actor said, "I thank the Tamil Nadu government for its affection towards me. My heartfelt thanks to the leaders and friends who supported me regardless of political differences. I am grateful to the lawyers who argued on my behalf and the people of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for their immense support. To everyone who transformed my small voice into a roaring storm, my sincere thanks."

She also said she was treated well at the Puzhal prison. According to the bail conditions, she should appear at the Egmore police station every day.

Kasthuri, while speaking in support of Brahmins at a protest in Chennai on November 3, had alleged that some Telugu-speaking people, who had come to the state who “came to serve the wives and courtesans of Tamil kings only 300 years ago, though now claimed to be Tamils, do not accept Tamil Brahmins who came long ago as Tamils."

Though she issued an apology and withdrew her remarks soon after the row, it failed to mollify the Telugu community and others, and several complaints were registered against her under many sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including a provision related to promoting enmity between different groups of people.

The Egmore police too registered a case against Kasthuri, who had gone missing by then. Later, they traced her to a film producer's house in Hyderabad and effected the arrest on November 16, after the Madras High Court's Madurai bench rejected her anticipatory bail petition, remarking that her apology was a mere ploy to escape the consequences of her statement. The comments Kasthuri made hovered close to hate speech, as it risked inciting violence against Tamil and Telugu communities, the court had said.

When her bail plea came for hearing at the chief metropolitan magistrate court in Egmore, Kasthuri’s counsel submitted that she was a single parent of a special child with autism spectrum disorder. The State decided to consider the matter on humanitarian grounds and decided not to oppose the bail plea, Tamil Nadu government sources told this newspaper. Hence, the lawyer appearing for the State police informed the court that it had no objection to granting bail to her.

The actor, following the controversy, had asserted that she only referred to those who bat for the "Dravidian ideology, who say that Tamils (Tamil Brahmins) are not Tamils." According to the actress, such people chose the identity of 'Dravidian' and could not choose 'Tamil,' for their ideology. Also, she repeatedly claimed that she did not make any derogatory comments against the Telugu-speaking people in the state.

(With inputs from Bureau and PTI)