FIR against TV actor Munmun Dutta for casteist remark

Amboli police on Saturday booked actor Munmun Dutta for allegedly using casteist slur against a community in a video she had posted online on May 10.

The actor, who plays the character of Babita in the television series Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, has been booked under relevant sections of the Atrocities Act and the Indian Penal Code. This is the third FIR against the actor.

In the past, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh police had registered FIRs against the actor for the same objectionable video. The actor had later uploaded an apology after her comment sparked controversy on social media.

The FIR was registered by Amboli police after a complaint was filed by Naresh Bohit, Maharashtra president of Walmiki Vikas Sangh. Bohit stated in his complaint that while announcing her entry on YouTube the actor expressed a casteist slur for the Walmiki community.

“Her comments have hurt sentiments of the Walmiki community people. It insults the community and it also maligns the community’s image in society and shows us in a bad light,” Bohit stated.

After Dutta’s video courted controversy she uploaded a one-page apology on Twitter and stated, “A video that I posted yesterday wherein one word used by me has been misinterpreted. It was never said with the intent of insult, intimidate, humiliate or hurt anyone’s feelings. Because of my language barrier, I was genuinely misinformed about the meaning of the word. Once I was made aware of its meaning, immediately took the part down. I have utmost respect for every single person from every caste, creed or gender and acknowledge their immense contribution to our Society or nation. I sincerely would like to apologize to every single person who have been unintentionally hurt by the usage of the word and I sincerely regret for the same.”

Bohit said, “It has become a trend for the celebrities to first make a derogatory comment and then after damaging reputation of the community apologise for the comment. We need legal action on the actor.”

Mumbai police spokesperson deputy commissioner of police Chaitanya Siriprolu said that a first information report (FIR) has been registered at Amboli police station under sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of IPC and 3 of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on May 26.