The controversy surrounding Siddharth’s comment on Saina Nehwal has taken a new turn. A case has been filed against Sidharth by the Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police for his rude remarks against Saina. The actor has been booked under section 509 IPC, Sec 67 IT ACT after a social activist filed a complaint against him.
The Tamil actor caused controversy after he reacted to Saina’s take on the lapse in security of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter. Last week, Saina had shared her thoughts on the security breach of Narendra Modi. She wrote, “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 (sic).” To this, Siddharth wrote, “Subtle cock champion of the world… Thank God we have protectors of India. Shame on you #Rihanna (sic).”
The actor received criticism from many, including National Commission for Women. The NCW urged Twitter to ban the actor’s account for his “lewd and inappropriate” tweet against Saina. They had also reached out to the Maharashtra police seeking registration of an FIR against him.
Following the uproar, Siddharth issued an apology. On Tuesday night, he took to Twitter and issued his apology. “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.” He insisted that his ‘wordplay and humour had none of the malicious intent that so many people from all quarters have attributed to it.’ He called himself a ‘staunch feminist ally’ and ‘there was no gender implied’ to the tweet. “I hope we can put this behind us and that you will accept my letter. You will always be my champion,” he added.
Reacting to his apology, Saina told news agency ANI, “He said something about me first and then apologised. I don’t even know why it went so viral. I was surprised to see myself trending on Twitter. Happy that Siddharth has apologised. You should not target a woman like that. It is okay. I am not bothered about it. I am happy in my place. God bless him.”
