Netflix has blocked ‘A Murdered Mother’, the first episode of crime documentary series ‘Crime Stories: India Detectives’ following an order from Karnataka High Court.
Sridhar Rao, an accused in the murder case shown in the opening episode of the new series, himself filed a petition against the telecast of the episode. Rao stated that if the content is available for viewing, he would be put to “harassment and prejudice”.
A single-judge bench of Justice B M Shyam Prasad passed an interim order on October 1, directing Netflix “to block streaming, broadcasting, telecasting or otherwise making available the content of the Episode No. 1 of the Series 1 of the documentary ‘Crime Stories: India Detectives’ titled A Murdered Mother” until further orders.
The said episode is about the murder of a mother by her daughter in Bengaluru, with a friend of the daughter being shown as a possible accomplice in the case. The suspects are arrested from Port Blair.
Rao contended that he is under trial for offences under several IPC sections in the case registered by Bengaluru Police. He argued said that some of the content in the Netflix episode could affect his defence.
“The petitioner’s right to a free and fair trial is severely prejudiced. This is apart from violating the petitioner’s privacy, and the content, without any justification, exposes the petitioner to ridicule and harassment by the public at large,” Rao argued.
