Following a huge reception that was organised for ousted Bigg Boss member Rajith Kumar in Kochi, a police case has been registered against 79 people responsible for it. Ernakulam Collector S Suhas wrote a Facebook post about the irresponsible behaviour at the time of coronavirus scare. The case has been registered under sections 143, 147, 149, 188 and 283 of the Indian Penal Code - Unlawful Assembly, Rioting, Disobeying orders of a public servant and causing obstruction to public way and thereby causing danger for the general public. There is also a High Court ruling that there should be no procession around 500 metres from the airport.
Rajith Kumar greets his fans at the airport
"It is shameful for every Malayali that a TV show contestant and his fans association have put up a show last night in Kochi airport at a time the whole world is taking precautions against the spread of COVID-19 (the coronavirus disease). The law cannot close its eyes against such blatant breaking of the rules when religious, political and social groups are all avoiding every kind of gathering as part of the precautions to keep the people safe," Suhas wrote.
A case has been filed against four people who can be identified and another 75 persons. "It is not in the Malayali's character to give more importance to star worship than human life. This action of a few people would bring a wrong impression to Kerala society," the Collector wrote.
Videos of a large number of people waiting to receive Rajith Kumar at the Cochin airport and walking with him outside as he greets and smiles at them, have surfaced online. It was only a few hours before that, on Sunday morning, that a UK national with COVID-19 had been at the airport and boarded a flight.
Rajith Kumar, a Botany lecturer and public speaker, had first got into controversy at the time he made a speech at the Government Women's College in Thiruvananthapuram in 2013. He had then made derogatory remarks about women, which prompted one of the students to boo him and walk away. Five years later, he reportedly made another offensive statement that women who wear jeans can give birth to transgender children. He also said that children born to rebel men and women 'have this new disease called autism'.
This year, Rajith entered Bigg Boss Malayalam, a reality show on television where a number of people are put in a house together, isolated from the outside world for 100 days. He was eliminated from the show after he applied chilli paste on the eyes of a fellow contestant called Reshma and she had to be rushed to hospital. Following this, there have been a lot of online protests by fans who call themselves ‘Rajith Kumar Army’, writing offensive comments against Asianet, which runs the show, and even on the page of film star Mohanlal who hosts it.