A case has been registered against actor Siddharth under section 67 of the IT Act and IPC section 509 (insult to modest of woman) for his tweet about badminton player Saina Nehwal. The case was filed with the Hyderabad cyber police.
KVM Prasad, Additional DCP, Cyber Crime Wing, Detective Department, Hyderabad told ANI, "A woman named Prerna approached Cyber Crime Wing and lodged a complaint against actor Sidharth for his sexist remarks against shuttler Saina Nehwal on Twitter."
Siddharth had tweeted, “Subtle cock champion of the world… Thank God we have protectors of India. Shame on you #Rihanna,” in response to Nehwal’s tweet that read, “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.”
In a statement on Monday, the NCW, terming the actor's tweet as being "misogynist and outrageous to the modesty of a woman amounting to disrespect and insult to dignity of women on social media platform", had said that it was seeking prompt and strict action against the actor.
On Tuesday, Siddharth apologised to Nehwal for his ‘rude joke’. In a social media statement, he wrote, “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. 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.”
He added, “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 (sic).”
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