Cyber attack: Case against Cong leader, YouTube channel on KJ Shine's plaint

Kochi: The Ernakulam Rural Cyber Police have registered a case based on a complaint filed by CPM leader and Ernakulam Lok Sabha candidate in the 2024 elections, K J Shine, against social media handles and media outlets that allegedly circulated defamatory content about her. 

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Shine alleged that a coordinated cyber-attack had been unleashed against her, targeting both her and her family with baseless propaganda. She said the complaint, along with supporting evidence, had been submitted to the chief minister, the state police chief, and the state women’s commission. 

Based on her complaint, a case has been registered against CK Gopalakrishnan, a local Congress leader in North Paravoor, and KM Shahjahan, owner of the YouTube channel 'Prathipaksham'. They have been booked under Sections 78 (stalking) and 79 (acts, gestures, words, or objects intended to insult a woman’s modesty or intrude upon her privacy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 67 of the IT Act (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) and Section 120 (o) (causing, through any means of communication, a nuisance of himself to any person) of Kerala Police Act.  

Police sources said they are currently verifying the screenshots and links shared by Shine in her complaint and indicated that more individuals may be arraigned as accused in the coming days.  

Addressing the media at her residence in Paravoor on Friday, Shine said the cyber-attack and defamatory content were deliberate attempts to divert attention from issues concerning Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil. She alleged that Congress workers were behind the cyberattack and claimed such actions could not have been carried out without the knowledge of Opposition Leader V D Satheesan.  

​“During a public meeting, a Congress leader in the locality — who is my friend too — told me that soon there would be a ‘bomb’ coming at me and warned me to stay strong and careful. Just two days later, a poster appeared online, followed by the coordinated cyber-attack. That is why I decided to lodge a complaint,” Shine said. 

K N Unnikrishnan MLA, whose name was also mentioned in the defamatory content circulated online, strongly condemned the act. He urged the Congress leadership to take responsibility and act against those involved. “If this material was spread without the leadership’s knowledge, they should publicly deny it. And if it was done by Congress workers, the leadership must take action against them,” Unnikrishnan told the media. 

She also appealed to society and the government to intervene and uphold women’s right to participate in public life without fear. “No woman who steps into the public sphere should ever be afraid. Those who came before us faced countless difficulties and smear campaigns. We too will face this situation together and move forward,” Shine said. 

​The CPM’s Ernakulam district leadership also came out in support of Shine and alleged that the Congress was behind the cyber-attack.

Meanwhile, Ernakulam District Congress Committee President Muhammad Shiyas stated that the CPM Ernakulam district secretary is trying to pin the CPM's internal power struggle on the Congress. He said that Congress or its official handles have no connection to the cyber-attack against Shine.  

​He added that the news was published in a newspaper and then spread on social media, questioning how this can be blamed on Congress. Shiyas said it would be better for the district secretary to investigate how social media obtained the news and how it appeared in the newspaper. He claimed that this is a result of conspiracies within the CPM regarding their internal power politics.

Meanwhile, CPM state secretary M V Govindan on Friday said that cyberattacks targeting women, orchestrated by right-wing political groups, are unacceptable in a progressive society. He was addressing the media at the AKG Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.

Govindan noted that similar attacks had earlier been directed at former health minister K K Shailaja, current health minister Veena George, and Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Arya Rajendran. “It is not wrong for political parties to use cyberspace for campaigns or to present their ideas. But what we see here is a deliberate attempt to harass women. Kerala, as a democratic society, must take a strong stand and ensure legal action against such tendencies,” he said.

He further alleged that the attacks were being carried out under the leadership of the opposition, including V D Satheesan, with planned intent. “When such attempts were opposed, issues were deliberately created,” he added.

Govindan also criticised the Congress, stating that even its leaders engage in cyberattacks against each other. “Congress has reached a rotten state. The situation of Rahul Mamkootathil is a testament to that. He has become the symbol of this decay in cultural Kerala,” he remarked.