Hours after actor Siddharth apologized to Saina Nehwal over his controversial tweet, Hyderabad police have booked him and a case has been registered. Siddharth had issued an apology and said he "couldn't justify his words".
The case has been registered under IPC Section 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of women) and under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, based on a complaint by local BJP leaders.
The Hyderabad Cyber Crimes department booked Siddharth after a complaint was registered against him by lawyer, Zonal Incharge IT, and social media manager of BJP Telangana, Neelam Bhargava Ram and Prerna Thiruvaipati.
"A woman named Prerna approached Cyber Crime Wing and lodged a complaint against actor Siddharth for his sexist remarks against shuttler Saina Nehwal on Twitter," ANI quoted KVM Prasad, Additional DCP, Cyber Crime Wing, Detective Department saying.
How it all began
The actor faced massive backlash and trolling after his demeaning comment on the ace badminton player. It all began when Saina Nehwal spoke up on social media in favour of PM Modi criticizing the breach in his security during his visit to Punjab.
"No nation can claim itself to be safe if the security of its own PM gets compromised. I condemn, in the strongest words possible, the cowardly attack on PM Modi by anarchists.#BharatStandsWithModi #PMModi," Saina had tweeted.
Siddharth's below the belt tweet
To this, Siddharth had commented, "Subtle cock champion of the world... Thank God we have protectors of India. Folded hands. Shame on you Rihanna." Soon after the immense backlash and NCW coming into action, Siddharth apologised to Saina in an open letter. He also added that there was no malicious intent and that he can't "justify my tone and words." He went on to say that he is a "staunch feminist ally" and there was "no intent to attack you as a woman."
Saina's take
Saina, however, added that she was not bothered about the whole thing. "He said something about me first and 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. 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 said.
Parupalli Kashyap reacts
Parupalli Kashyap also took to Twitter and criticized Siddharth's tweet. "This is upsetting for us ... express ur opinion but choose better words man. I guess u thought it was cool to say it this way . #notcool #disgraceful @Actor_Siddharth."
