Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Nov 24: The state high court which heard a defamation suit filed by a lady against her divorced husband concluded that he was guilty. The person, Kochu Shetty, a retired engineer of Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL), has been handed down one year's imprisonment.

Kochu Shetty, a native of Elinje in the city had worked in Mangaluru and Puttur offices of KPTCL. His wife was employed in a bank. It is said that even after divorce, Kochu Shetty continued to harass his former wife. He used to write letters in different names containing false information which were meant to undermine her reputation and character. He also used to send open letters in the address of the bank containing such concocted stories which could be read by anyone who came across them.

The divorced lady who found that these letters contained the handwriting of her former husband, sent him lawyer's notice warning him of legal action, but Shetty continued to mail such letters. Frustrated by this, she filed a defamation suit in the court of the magistrate here. He argued in the court that the handwriting in the letters was not his. The letters were sent to the forensic science laboratory at Bengaluru. Experts who examined these letters provided report certifying that the handwriting in the letters was of Kochu Shetty. Based on this report, the court sent him to jail for a year.

Kochi Shetty filed an appeal in the high court against this judgement. He argued that it was wrong to entirely base the judgement on the reports of the handwriting experts. He also said that there was no proof that the letters had caused infamy of his former wife. The high court dismissed these arguments. It said that damaging the reputation of women is a serious offence punishable with imprisonment. It upheld the judgement of the Mangaluru court and asked the court of the magistrate to arrest Kochu and put him behind the bars immediately.