Singer-composer Papon's Holi celebration with the contestants of a television reality show he is judging has led to a harassment complaint.
He has been accused of "inappropriately kissing" a minor. In a video that has gone viral, Papon can be seen applying colour to a contestant's face and planting a kiss on her lips, leaving her stunned.
After a video emerged of singer Papon kissing a minor girl inappropriately, India’s National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Friday issued a notice to both Papon and the TV channel, which airs the show called “Voice India Kids,” reports NDTV.
“We have seen the video and have gone through the written complaint which came to us from Supreme Court lawyer Runa Bhuyan. We felt this is a provocative case. Necessary legal action will be taken,” the NCPCR official said.
Meanwhile, several Bollywood celebrities including Raveena Tandon, Gauahar Khan, Farah Khan, Shaan and Sona Mohapatra have reacted to the controversy.
Also Read: Lawyer accuses Indian singer Papon of inappropriately kissing a minor girl
Filmmaker and reality show judge, Farah said: “I know Papon, he is a good guy. But there is no doubt that when I saw the video, it made me uncomfortable. I don’t think he meant to do it, but if it was my daughter I wouldn’t like it. I think people should not touch other people’s children and should just show affection to his own children.”
Farah added that the girl was uncomfortable after that incident. However, she said she believed Papon did not mean anything else.
Raveena in her second tweet on the matter also took a dig at the singer’s counsel, saying they were spoiling the matter further by making silly arguments. “If it happened unintentionally and the girl moved her face, admit it happened, apologise, instead of giving it a “guru shishya” love spin, sounds repulsive,” she wrote.
[embed]https://twitter.com/TandonRaveena/status/967098132059316224[/embed]
Echoing Raveena’s thought, Gauahar’s tweeted: “Wasn’t smothering a child’s face with your palm rubbing colour all over it for 4 secs enough as fatherly love, that u had to pull the child’s face then to strategically peck her on the lip??? There was no wrong camera angle or the child moving her face mistakenly BTW #papon.”
[embed]https://twitter.com/GAUAHAR_KHAN/status/967102673878245376[/embed]
Singer Shaan tweeted in favour of Papon but later deleted the post. He wrote, “My stand is on assumption that it was actually a wrong angle and the kiss was not on the lips…”
Sona said the video is not in good taste without any doubt.
However, the girl’s father said Papon is a mentor and a father-figure to his daughter. “What you saw in the video is not intentional. It was just a moment of affection that is being portrayed otherwise. I would request and urge the media to not pursue this further,” he said.
Police are also yet to take any legal action against the Assamese singer, known for his popular numbers from Hindi films such as “Barfi!,” “Befikre,” “Sultan,” and “Dum Laga Ke Haisha,” among others.
“We are following the legal procedure. We will ask for their version as well and accordingly further action will be taken. We have guidelines on our website which clearly mentions rules for channels using children in their show,” added the NCPCR official.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
