On Thursday, the Chennai Police summoned actor Siddharth for his derogatory tweet on badminton champion Saina Nehwal after receiving two complaints against the actor in this regard. Chennai Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal informed that referring to the complaints filed in Hyderabad, action can be taken only for defamation, no criminal action is viable against him.
“We have issued summon to actor Siddharth to record his statement”, Jiwal added. He added that two complaints have been received against the actor for his controversial comments and one is defamation in a legal frame, not a criminal case.
On January 12, the Hyderabad cyber police had registered a case against Siddharth for his tweet about Saina Nehwal under section 67 of the IT Act and IPC section 509 (insult to modesty of a woman).
“Actor Siddharth has been summoned (over his controversial tweet on badminton player Saina Nehwal). We’ve actually received 2 complaints; other one is on defamation in a legal frame, not a criminal case. We only need his statement,” said Chennai Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal pic.twitter.com/HnCOnmVv57
— ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2022
Siddharth’s crass comments against Saina
Siddharth had attacked Nehwal with a crass, sexual comment responding to her tweet on PM Modi’s security lapse in Punjab. “Subtle cock champion of the world… Thank God we have protectors of India. Shame on you #Rihanna”, he had said. ‘Cock’ is a slang used for the male sexual organ. By twisting the badminton term ‘shuttlecock’, Siddharth was trying to insult Saina in a crass, sexual manner.
Siddharth’s crass comments were widely criticised on social media. After sharing a lame excuse trying to justify his earlier comment, Siddharth had written an open letter to the Badminton Champion, apologizing for his behaviour.
Identifying himself as an ‘ally’ of the feminist movement, Siddharth had said that he was being funny and had no intentions to disrespect a woman. “I want to apologize to you for my rude joke. I may disagree with you on many things but even my disappointment or anger when I read your tweet, cannot justify my tone and words. Sorry about a joke that didn’t land”, the letter read.
Dear @NSaina pic.twitter.com/plkqxVKVxY
— Siddharth (@Actor_Siddharth) January 11, 2022
Not stretching the issue, Saina had responded to Siddharth’s apology saying that the matter was about women. “He only said it and he is now apologizing. He shouldn’t target a woman like that but it’s okay, I am not bothered about it, I am happy in my space and god bless him,” she had said.
He (actor Siddharth) said something about me first & then apologized. I don’t even know why it went so viral. I was surprised to see myself trending on Twitter. Happy that Siddharth has apologized: Badminton player Saina Nehwal https://t.co/uKdfRPXMgn pic.twitter.com/Ls0qWVLJ8X
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2022
Pertinently the National Commission for Women (NCW) had also urged Twitter India to block the actor’s account. The NCW had written to the Maharashtra police seeking registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against actor Siddharth.
