Days after actor Siddharth courted controversy with his distasteful tweet about badminton champion Saina Nehwal, an FIR has been filed against him on a complaint filed by the Hindu Jana Shakti in Hyderabad. Actor Siddharth has been charged by Hyderabad Police station and the Cyber Crime City Police under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act.
Supreme Court Advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha who is also fighting to provide justice to the Palghar Sadhus case, shared the information on social media. Prerna Thiruvaipati, Vice President of Hindu Jana Shakti and RTI activist, advocate Neelam Bhargava Ram together lodged an official complaint against actor Siddharth for using derogatory remarks on social media against a woman, he said.
Breaking: FIR lodged against @Actor_Siddharth with @hydcitypolice & @CyberCrimeshyd under sections of Indian Penal Code and IT Act.
— Shashank Shekhar Jha (@shashank_ssj) January 12, 2022
Thank you @PrernaThiruvaip & @nbramllb for going to Police Station and getting this done.@SanjeevSanskrit @swati_gs @NCWIndia pic.twitter.com/KcrUTSqgMp
On January 6, Siddharth had attacked ace Badminton player Saina 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.
Saina had condemned the comment and said that she had lost respect for the actor. “Yeah, I’m not sure what he meant. I used to like him as an actor but this was not nice. He can express himself with better words but I guess it’s Twitter and you remain noticed with such words and comments,” Saina had said.
Yesterday, the actor officially apologised to Saina after the netizens targeted him for insulting the celebrated player who is a woman. Identifying himself as an ‘ally’ of the feminist movement, Siddharth wrote in his open letter, “Dear Saina, I want to apologise to you for my rude joke that I wrote as a response to a tweet of yours, a few days ago. 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. I know I have more grace in me than that. As for the joke… If a joke needs to be explained, then it wasn’t a very good joke to begin with. Sorry about a joke that didn’t land”.
Dear @NSaina pic.twitter.com/plkqxVKVxY
— Siddharth (@Actor_Siddharth) January 11, 2022
However, he defended his cation terming it a joke. “I, however must insist my word play and humour had none of the malicious intent that so many people from all quarters have attributed to it. I am a staunch feminist ally and I assure you there was no gender implied in my tweet and certainly no intent to attack you as a woman. I hope we can put this behind us and that you will accept my letter. You will always be my Champion. Honestly, Siddharth”, he continued.
Saina Nehwal today wondered why the actor changed his stance after making the comment and responded to Siddharth’s apology saying that the matter was about women. “He only said it and he is now apologising. See, it is about women, 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 said on the sidelines of the ongoing India Open.
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 earlier urged Twitter India to ‘immediately’ block the actor’s account. The NCW also has written to the Maharashtra police seeking registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against actor Siddharth.
