Munmun Dutta, the actor best known for her performance in the Hindi television series Tarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma, appeared before Hansi police in Haryana on Monday. She was reportedly interrogated for four hours about the case registered against her for using a casteist slur, and later released on bail.
In May 9, 2021, Dutta released a video in which she stated that she did not want to look like a Bhangi, a term often used to refer to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community in a pejorative manner. She said that she instead “wanted to look good.”
The actor took down the video after facing flak on social media. And a day later, Dutta also issued an apology on social media stating that there was a language barrier and that the word used by her was misinterpreted.
Soon after, a complaint was filed against Dutta by Rajat Kalsan, Dalit rights activist and convenor of the National Alliance for Dalit Human Rights, in Haryana’s Hansi city police station. The complaint was registered under Section 3(1) (U) of the SC/ST Act.
A special court in Hisar rejected Dutta’s anticipatory bail plea on January 28, following which she had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the same.
On February 4, the High Court granted interim anticipatory bail to Dutta and ordered her to appear before the investigating officer at Hansi before February 11. The court had also directed the officer to arrest the actor and release her on interim bail following interrogation. Further, the officer was instructed to present the investigation report before the High Court on February 25, the date of the next hearing.
As per this court order, Dutta had appeared at the Hansi police station on Monday, where she was interrogated and then released on bail.
Recommended
Following the complaint from Kalsan, another complaint on the same issue was filed by the president of Akhil Bharatiya Balai Mahasangh, Manoj Parmar, at Indore. Parmar told Silverscreen India at the time that the actor’s video contained indecent language. He noted that the usage of the word Bhangi was a pejorative against the Balmiki community and one that should be illegal and prohibited.
Initially, the Indore police had refused to register the complaint from Parmar and his organisation. It was only accepted after members of the SC community staged a protest.
Later, a petition was also filed at the Supreme Court to club all the FIRs against Dutta in this matter and have the case registered at the Hansi City police station be treated as the main one. However, the court has not passed an order on this yet.