The Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday, 6 January, filed a case against hair stylist Jawed Habib for allegedly spittig over a woman's hair.
An FIR has been registered against the celebrity stylist under sections 355 (assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour person, otherwise than on grave provocation) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code, and relevant sections of the Epidemic Act.
The case comes after a video of Habib spitting on a woman's hair at an event in UP's Muzaffarnagar went viral, leading to social media calling him out for his behaviour.
Following the backlash, Habib put out an apology statement through a video message.
The Quint could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
National Commission for Women Writes to UP Police, Asks for Probe
The National Commission for Women said on Thursday it has taken cognisance of the incident and chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to Uttar Pradesh DGP to immediately investigate the matter and take appropriate action.
"@NCWIndia has taken cognizance of the incident. Chairperson @sharmarekha has written to @dgpup to immediately investigate the veracity of this viral video and take appropriate action. The action taken must be apprised to the Commission at the earliest," the commission tweeted.
What Had Happened
The incident reportedly took place during a workshop that Habib was conducting in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar.
Another video is doing the rounds, wherein the concerned woman is seen narrating what happened at the seminar that she attended. "At Jawed Habib's seminar, he invited me on stage for a haircut. He misbehaved with me and tried to show how spit can be used instead of water while giving a haircut. I did not go for the haircut," the woman, identifying herself as Pooja Gupta, said.
In other interviews to TV channels the woman said, "I attended the workshop to learn something. But he was not answering my questions. Then he called me to the stage to teach cutting. He pushed my head, I objected, saying I have cervical issues. Then he spat twice on my hair and said that if you don't have water in your parlour then you can spit. My husband was making the video. After I came down from the stage, Habib's assistant said he was just joking."
Habib Issues Apology
In a video message, Habib said that often such things are done with "humorous" intent during workshops, but added he was sincerely sorry if someone felt hurt.
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