Telugu actor Vijay Deverakonda booked under SC/ST Act for comments about Adivasis

Telugu actor Vijay Deverakonda was booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act by the Hyderabad Police for making allegedly derogatory remarks against Adivasi communities during a public event, PTI reported on Sunday.

Deverakonda made the alleged statements on April 26 during a pre-release event for his film Retro. The case was filed at the Raidurgam police station based on a complaint by Nenavath Ashok Kumar Naik, state president of the Joint Action Committee of Tribal Communities.

The complainant alleged that the actor referred to Adivasi persons as lacking intelligence and compared them to Pakistani terrorists, The Hindu reported. Naik said that the actor’s comments were offensive and deeply insulting to the dignity and self-respect of the Adivasi community.

Another case was registered against Deverakonda in May at Hyderabad’s SR Nagar police station under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act over the comments, the newspaper reported.

On May 3, the actor apologised on social media, saying that he had “no intention to hurt or target any community, especially our Scheduled Tribes, who I deeply respect and consider an integral part of our country”....

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