The Kochi police has registered a case against several Faceook users, following complaints of defamatory posts against Amrita Institute of Medical Science (AIMS).
The posts were in protest against the institution refusing to give any concession to teenage girl Swathy Krishna, who underwent a liver transplantation surgery there a few days back.
The police is on the hunt for the one who first uploaded the defamatory post and those who have shared it. Prima facie, it was found that the post was first uploaded on a Facebook page titled Tintu-Mon Fans Association, which has nearly 100,000 members.
The girl, a Plus-Two student from Piravom, had undergone a liver transplant surgery at AIMS after an organ failure. The government had intervened to facilitate organ donation by her aunt, leading to media publicity.
According to the police, the administrator of the Facebook page would be taken to task, as also those who had shared the posts.
The page had two posts against AIMS; the first one on July 14, saying the hospital did not give concession for treatment of Swathy Krishna, even as the entire Malayali community prayed for her.
“The second post appeared last Monday, after the AIMS offered Rs4 lakh for the girl’s treatment. The first post was liked by over 6,000 users, shared by 13,000.
Over 1,000 people liked the second post, while 1,500 shared the same. According to the IT Act, a case could be taken out also against those who have shared and liked the post,” said a police source.
The petition was first filed before the commissioner of city police here. He forwarded it to the Cheranalloor police, under which AIMS is located.
However, as the IT Act says only a circle inspector could probe such cases, the Ernakulam North CI B Rajan is expected to take up the case.