The National Commission for Women (NCW) has, on Tuesday, written to the Tamil Nadu DGP to take action against actor Siddharth for his tweet to a woman anchor. NCW took to Twitter to write, "@NCWIndia has taken cognisance of the derogatory remarks made in the post. Chairperson @sharmarekha has written to DGP Tamil Nadu seeking intervention and appropriate action against the offender as per provisions of law to refrain him from making such kind of statements in future".
Previously, the NCW issued a statement about Siddharth’s reaction to a tweet by badminton player Saina Nehwal. NCW called Siddharth’s remarks ‘misogynist and outrageous to the modesty of a woman.’
The statement, shared by ANI, stated that NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to the police asking for an FIR to be filed against the actor.
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.”
After he faced criticism online for his comment, Siddharth clarified that ‘nothing disrespectful was intended.’ He tweeted, “Cock and bull. That's the reference. Reading otherwise is unfair and leading. Nothing disrespectful was intended, said or insinuated. Period."
The NCW statement read, “The National Commission for Women has come across a post of Indian actor Siddharth using lewd comments on Twitter on the post of Ms. Saina Nehwal. The comment is misogynist and outrageous to the modesty of a woman amounting to disrespect and insult to dignity of women on social media platforms.”
“The Commission condemns such lewd and inappropriate remark made by the actor and has taken suo moto cognisance in the matter. Chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to the Director-General of Police Maharashtra to immediately investigate the matter and register FIR under relevant provisions of the law,” the statement further read.
In the statement, NCW also said that their chairperson has written to the Resident Grievance Officer of Twitter India suggesting that Siddharth's account should be 'immediately blocked'.
Saina Nehwal's father told ANI, "He (Siddharth) used very wrong words against Saina. We condemn his statement. He should apologize for it, no matter if he made these remarks intentionally or unintentionally."
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)