An ex-journalist by the name of Vineetha Venu and her husband have allegedly been the subject of cyberbullying, harassment and moral policing by the hoodlums of the ruling Communist Party in Kerala. Failing to get any help from law enforcement authorities, the former journalist has now asked the party goons to kill her and her family in one go instead of harassing them everyday.
Reportedly, her husband was returning home from work when his friend asked him to accompany him to his parent’s house in Payam in Kannur district. Upon reaching there, a group of drunk men arrived at the spot and began interrogating him. It was not until a police team from Iritty arrived that he was rescued. It must be mentioned that Vineetha’s husband is a policeman at the Chombala station in Kozhikode district.
However, soon, CPIM IT Cell began targeting her family. The Communist supporters on social media began maligning her husband and claimed that he was found in ‘suspicious circumstances.’ The fake story spread like wildfire and the CPIM mouthpiece ‘Deshabhimani’ also helped in further propagating the baseless allegations through its article, the journalist says.
Facebook post by the Kerala journalist
On Saturday (May 29), Vineetha Venu took to Facebook to narrate her ordeal. She informed that her husband was subject to an alcohol test, despite never consuming alcohol in his life. The former Kerala-based journalist added that she was on the hitlist of the ruling party, ever since she exposed how CPIM goons murdered a 30-year-old Youth Congress worker named Shoaib in February 2018.
“The spot reporting antagonised the CPI-M and they started showering abuses on me and my husband in social media groups,” she said in her Facebook post. Vineetha highlighted that her story about the leakage of details of Coronavirus-positive patients also drew the ire of the ruling dispensation. The party-sponsored trolls alleged on social media that it was her husband who had leaked the information.
“This was pure vilification. I had done the story after two Malayalam channels had reported on the leakage and levelling the allegations that my husband had leaked to me does not stand as he is a lower level policeman… all the details were with senior police officers,” the ex-journalist said in her defence. She emphasised that her husband was transferred 7 times, in an act of political vengeance and it was only cancelled this time after she lodged a complaint with the State police chief.
Tired of the consistent vilification, character assassination, and abuse, a helpless Vineeta has pleaded with the Communist goons to kill her and her family at one go. She concluded, “I, my husband, and my small children will come at Kannur town square… finish us off, but please kill us by a single swing of the machete.”
Suhaib murder case and how its coverage miffed the Communist dispensation
On February 13, 2018, a 30-year-old Youth Congress worker named Shoaib died, a day after he was attacked by the hoodlums of the ruling Communist Party. The deceased was waiting outside a night eatery in Mattanoor when four people arrived in a car and hurled bombs. Shoaib was attacked and he was slashed with a sword. The incident occurred at around 10:45 pm at night.
Shoaib had sustained severe injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital. A day later, he succumbed to his injuries at the Kozhikode Medical college hospital. During the scuffle that followed the previous night, his two friends also sustained minor injuries. The reason for the gruesome murder was attributed to a fight between the CPIM and the Congress over student politics.
“Not long back, a club of the Congress party came under heavy attack, after the CPI-M leadership was upset when the children of the party leaders took part in a meeting. They unleashed an attack and Shoaib, was at the forefront to stop this. Since then the CPI-M had announced publicly that his days are numbered,” informed Congress chief (Kannur) Sateeshan Pacheni. Reportedly, it was the 21st political murder in the state since the Left’s revival in 2016.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said, “The police in Kannur is a mute spectator, as the CPI-M is in control of everything. They are striking at will to eliminate their political rivals in the most inhumane manner. We have appealed to all our workers in Kannur to see that they remain calm.” However, for exposing the truth, Vineetha Venu is now paying a price with constant mental harassment and threats to her life.
