Actress Kasthuri Shankar was arrested by Chennai police on Saturday at a film producer's residence in Hyderabad due to her controversial comments regarding the Telugu community. Following the arrest, officials are taking her back to Chennai to present her before a magistrate.
The arrest comes after the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court denied her anticipatory bail. Kasthuri had been evading police, having gone missing from her home in Chennai with her mobile phone turned off.
The 50-year-old actress faced backlash after remarks made at a meeting of the Hindu Makkal Katchi, which were deemed offensive to Telugu-speaking individuals in Tamil Nadu. BJP leader Dr Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy publicly condemned her statements, arguing they disrupted the harmonious atmosphere among the state's residents and contradicted the principle of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam," meaning "the world is one family."
The Madras High Court, which dismissed her bail request, stated that her comments “hover around hate speech.” The court highlighted the responsibility of public figures to think carefully before making statements on sensitive topics.
In response to the controversy, Kasthuri issued an apology on November 6, stating that she had withdrawn all references to the Telugu community from her earlier speech delivered on November 3. She clarified that it was never her intention to offend anyone.
"I am sorry for any inadvertent ill feeling. In the interest of all-round amity, I withdraw all references to Telugus in my speech," she posted on X (formerly Twitter). She stated that her remarks were meant to address specific individuals, not the wider Telugu community and lamented that the uproar had overshadowed the more significant issues she had raised.
Kasthuri also shared that she had received numerous threats following her speech. She expressed gratitude for a respected Telugu friend who helped her understand the broader impact of her words on the Telugu population in Tamil Nadu.
In her post, she affirmed her commitment to transcending caste and regional differences. She expressed her admiration for the Telugu culture, recalling the legacy of the Nayak kings and her appreciation for Telugu cinema. "Telugu people have given me a name, fame, love and a family," she concluded, reinforcing her connection to the community.