Even though most of the celebrities remained silent about the slapgate incident but Muslims condemned the act and said that accused Akil Malik has not done the right thing by slapping Bigg Boss winner and TV host Gauhar Khan. According to them, men should change their mindset instead of passing comments about women’s attire and blaming them for rising rape incidents. The accused Akil had informed the police that he had slapped Gauhar to teach her a lesson so that she doesn’t wear skimpy clothes in the future. He said that girls wearing short clothes provoke youth to commit crimes like rape and molestation. Akil added that if actresses stop wearing short clothes, crime will decrease and lead to a better society Akil has been slapped with Indian Penal Code sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation). He has been remanded in police custody till Thursday.
When AV spoke to Advocate Amin Solkar he refrained from commenting about this issue and said, “I have no idea about the issue hence I cannot comment about it.”
Advocate Abbas Kazmi said, “As a Muslim or whatsoever, he had not done the right thing. Akil had no right to slap Gauhar just because she was wearing skimpy clothes. If he had some problem, he should not have gone there.”
Abid Surti, noted cartoonist and writer said, “Girls do not need to change their clothes, men should change their attitude.”
Maulana Zaheer Abbas, Congress general secretary said, “As a Muslim or as a human being, nobody would justify this act. This is a highly condemnable act. Such people should be punished. Everybody has a right to live their life the way they want to.”
Addressing a press conference Gauhar Khan said, “Hence forth I will dress decently while appearing in public places. Today I have become a victim of this incident but tomorrow any girl will have to undergo this situation. The accused feels that he will roam scot free by attacking me but strict action must be taken against him. The anti-rape and molestation laws must be tightened to avert such crimes against women.”
She also expressed her gratitude towards the crew members who had immediately taken the accused to police. Gauhar said that while she is not promoting any kind of dress code, no one had the right to hurt, torture or attack anybody.
Akil visited the sets of India’s Raw Star for three days and he said that he was enraged with Gauhar’s outfits. He said he had tried to explain to Gauhar that wearing short clothes was against Islam. When the argument got heated up, he slapped her in presence of over 2500 people.
