A fresh police report (FIR) has been made against podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia, YouTuber Apoorva Makhija and comic Samay Raina, among others, amid the massive furore in India over the crass remarks made in India’s Got Latent show.
Mumbai Police filed the fresh FIR on Wednesday based on a complaint that accused the social media influencers of degrading the Indian family system and hurting religious feelings.
Complainant Sanmati Pandey quoted Allahbadia’s controversial remark: “Would you rather watch your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life or join in once and stop it forever?”.
Allahbadia made that remark recently when he appeared in an episode of India’s Got Latent, alongside Apoorva and comics Ashish Chanchlani and Jaspreet Singh.
A clip from the show, which is now viral, shows Allahbadia asking the “obscene and inappropriate question” to a contestant.
The audience and fellow comics laughed out loud at Allahbadia’s remark, but it soon sparked a controversy, drawing legal action.
On Monday, lawyers Ashish Rai and Pankaj Mishra wrote to Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phalsankar and the state women’s commission, flagging how such remarks amount to disrespecting women.
The incident triggered a massive outrage on social media, with many calling it vulgarity in the name of comedy. It drew reactions from journalist and lyricist Neelesh Misra and Congress leader Supriya Shrinate, among others.
“Decency is not incentivised in India – by platforms or audiences – and creators are stooping lower and lower for audience reach and revenue,” wrote Mr Misra.
Ms Shrinate called it pervert and worrying. “This isn’t creative. It’s pervert. And we can’t normalise perverse behaviour as cool. The fact that this sick comment met loud applause must worry us all,” she said.
Following the row, Allahbadia issued an apology and said he “shouldn’t have said what he said”.
“My comment wasn’t just inappropriate; it wasn’t even funny. Comedy is not my forte. I am just here to say sorry,” he said in a video statement.
On Wednesday, a team from the Assam Police reached Mumbai to question Allahabadia.
This comes after the Crime Branch in Guawahati on Monday registered a case against him and others for “promoting obscenity and engaging in sexually explicit and vulgar discussion”.
The 31-year-old, who runs two YouTube channels – Ranveer Allahbadia and BeerBiceps – has been badly affected by the episode.
He has lost more than 30,000 subscribers, and marketers pointed out that his remarks will cost him more subscribers, brand deals and a tarnished image.
While the police continue with the investigations, Raina said that he has deleted all the episodes of his show from his YouTube channel, which had garnered millions of views.
He said that the recent events have been a bit too much for him to handle, adding that he will cooperate with investigative agencies.
“My only objective was to make people laugh and have a good time. I will fully cooperate with all agencies to ensure their inquiries are concluded fairly,” he said.
According to PTI, Makhija has recorded her statement at a police station in Mumbai.
So far, at least seven people, including Allahbadia’s manager have recorded their statements with the Mumbai police, the PTI report said.
