Journalist Held For Derogatory Remarks Against Women

Vijayawada:An AP police team arrested senior journalist Kommineni Srinivasa Rao in Hyderabad and took him to Thullur, where a case had been registered against him as the second accused in connection with derogatory remarks made against women in Amaravati. Senior journalist V.V.R. Krishnam Raju was named the first accused and the news channel management the third. Late-night reports said Rao had not yet been produced before a magistrate. Meanwhile, Raju remained at large.

The charges against the accused state that V.V.R. Krishnam Raju made obscene and malicious remarks during a TV show on a news channel, claiming that Amaravati was not the capital of gods but of prostitutes, and that AIDS-infected patients lived there.

Several women’s organisations from Amaravati and other regions held protest rallies condemning the remarks. Demonstrations were also staged in front of news channel offices. Multiple FIRs were registered across the state.

Former chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy condemned the arrest of Kommineni Srinivasa Rao, calling it the height of political vendetta.

In a statement, the former CM questioned the rationale behind arresting a TV show moderator for "remarks he never made." Jagan Reddy noted, “In any discussion, diverse opinions are natural. Punishing an anchor for a statement made by a guest is not only unjust but also dangerous.”

The YSRC chief alleged that the voices of intellectuals and journalists were being silenced by the government through threats, intimidation, and blatant misuse of power. He expressed grave concern over the “alarming breakdown of democracy and rule of law” in Andhra Pradesh.

He said the state had become a symbol of anarchy under the Naidu-led alliance government. Jagan Reddy accused the Chief Minister of trying to divert public attention from the failures of the past year—marked by “corruption and betrayal of electoral promises”—by targeting media houses and stifling dissent.

He said Kommineni Srinivasa Rao had also faced vindictive actions during the previous TD regime. “His job was taken away and his programmes were censored between 2014 and 2019 because he did not support the TDP’s narrative.”

Jagan Reddy warned the Chief Minister, “The day will come when the people will demand answers for your abuses and injustices. What you sow today, you will reap twice tomorrow.”