Shaheen says she will not visit facebook

Mumbai: One of the girls held for posting comments on ‘Facebook’ questioning the shutdown in the city for Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray’s funeral on Tuesday said she will never again visit the social networking site while police arrested 9 Shiv Sainiks for vandalising her uncle’s clinic.

Shaheen said police was polite to her and she had no complaints against any police personnel.”I have apologised for the post,” she said adding that whatever happened was unfair. However, Shaheen said she would never use the social media network henceforth. She had no comments to offer on whether she had done anything wrong. She describe Thackeray as a great guy whom she truly respected.
Renu Shaheen had allegedly commented on Facebook that one should not observe bandh for Thackeray’s funeral. “We should remember Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev,” the post said. Her friend Renu, who was arrested for ‘liking’ the post, felt that she was “wrongfully” arrested.
Renu said, “I regret what I did. This should not have happened. I never dreamt that I would be in court. What we did was not a crime. Now I will think twice before posting anything on Facebook.” She further said, “The arrest was not necessary. Police treated us well. I was amazed at what was happening to me.”

Their advocate Sudhir Gupta said both were arrested under section 505(2) IPC (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) following a police complaint lodged by a local Sena leader.

The arrests had sparked an outrage with Press Council of India chief Markandey Katju demanding “immediate” action against police personnel involved. In an e-mail to the Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Katju warned of “legal consequences” if he failed to take action against the police personnel concerned.

Congress said a police case against the girls was “unfortunate” and hoped Maharashtra government would take remedial measures. Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal has said he was “deeply saddened” by the arrest of the two girls and that the IT Act should not be used to “throttle dissent”. Union Minister of State for IT Milind Deora said, “There is a need for an independent inquiry into the girls’ arrest”.