Indian court orders arrest of Gere, Shetty over kiss
INDIA: An Indian judge ordered the arrest of Hollywood star Richard Gere and Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on Thursday over a hug and kiss
at an AIDS awareness event.
The arrest warrants were issued in the Rajasthan state capital of
Jaipur following a public interest plea filed last week by resident
Poonam Chand Bhandari accusing the pair of obscenity, court officials
said.
“Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Dinesh Gupta issued the
(arrest) orders,” a court official told AFP from Jaipur, 375 kilometres
(232 miles) from Jodhpur.
Gere embraced the 31-year-old Shetty — winner of Britain’s Celebrity
Big Brother reality show — and planted several kisses on her cheek in
front of thousands of onlookers at the AIDS function in the Indian
capital New Delhi earlier this month.
The incident triggered a public storm in India, known for its chaste
public behaviour despite Bollywood’s sexually suggestive song-and-dance
routines.
There was no immediate comment available from either of the stars on
the arrest warrants.
The kissing incident triggered protests across the country with
demonstrators burning effigies of Gere.
News reports have identified the Jaipur complainant as a lawyer and
had said he had accused the duo of committing “an obscene act” in a
public place.
Another complaint was filed in court earlier this month against the
stars in in Ghaziabad, a satellite city of New Delhi. The complainants’
lawyer Ramautar Gupta said at the time, “It is all indecency and nudity,
which our society cannot tolerate.”
Obscenity is punishable by a maximum of two years’ imprisonment and a
fine of 2,000 rupees (45 dollars) in India.
Radical Hindus burned effigies of the 57-year-old Gere in India’s
entertainment hub of Mumbai and organised street rallies in New Delhi
after the actor’s affectionate display.
The opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party had condemned
the incident, saying “such a public display is not part of Indian
tradition.”
Gere, who left India soon after the event, is a frequent visitor as a
follower of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who lives in the
country in exile, besides in his capacity as an AIDS awareness
campaigner.
Shetty had appealed for calm after the kissing incident, telling
reporters that Gere had asked her to say he was “sorry if he has hurt
the sentiments of Indian people.”
“Nothing of that sort happened about which I should feel bad or any
other Indian should feel bad,” said Shetty.
Explaining what lead Gere to kiss her on the stage, she said they
were discussing his recent film “Shall We Dance.”
“I was telling him that he was really good in the film and we were
joking about it. In an impromptu move, he did a dance step from the film
with me, kissing me on my cheek, thanking me,” Shetty said, according to
the Press Trust of India.
Gere was only seeking to entertain the audience and communicate in a
Bollywood style because he did not speak Hindi, she added.
Meanwhile Legal experts in India ridiculed the court’s obscenity
charges against Gere and Shilpa Shetty for kissing in public, saying
Friday that the case makes Indian judges seem like Taliban morality
police.
“The order is unsustainable and makes us look ridiculous,” India’s
former attorney general, Soli Sorabjee, told the Times of India
newspaper. “Magistrates should not act like Taliban moral police,” he
added.
Another senior legal expert, Dushyant Dave, told the Times of India
that the charges were “an act of judicial indecency.”
“This is only for cheap publicity and the magistrate and lawyer
should be restrained,” Dave was quoted as saying.
Shetty, who was on a religious pilgrimage in southern India and had
not yet received a court summons, was upset by news of the charges,
spokesman Dale Bhagwagar said.
“She does hurt, she does feel low,” Bhagwagar told The Associated
Press. “She feels she is being constantly targeted, but anyone who knows
her well knows she can’t be put down.”
“Shilpa wishes that people would focus on the real issue, AIDS
awareness, and not three pecks on her cheek,” he said.
New Delhi, Friday, AFP, AP |