The National Commission of Women (NCW) recently sent a press note to the Director-General of Police (DGP) of Maharashtra, regarding an inappropriate tweet by Tamil and Telugu actor Siddharth.

The ‘Rang De Basanti’ star had created an uproar on social media after uploading a tweet on badminton player Saina Nehwal on January 5, 2022.

Soon after Saina, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2020, had shared a tweet supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 5, Sidharth responded with a tweet that read “Subtle cock champion of the world…Thank God we have protectors of India. Shame on you #Rihanna”.

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The tweet instantly sparked outrage for being inappropriate and sexually suggestive, which further led to NCW requesting DGP Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu to look into the matter. Furthermore, the commission has also written to Twitter India to ban Siddharth’s account.

 NCW’s chairperson, Rekha Sharma, wrote “This man needs a lesson or two! @TwitterIndia why this person’s account still exists? …taking it up with Concerned police,” on Twitter.

Sidharth’s tweet has amassed thousands of comments and retweets, with many criticising the actor for his poor choice of words. One user wrote, “This is really crass, Siddharth. You just contributed to what a lot of us women are fighting against.” Another user wrote, “Tells a lot about your crass upbringing. You should sue your parents for the childhood trauma that you must have suffered instead of spreading your vitriol online.”

Facing the backlash, Siddharth took to his Twitter handle to clarify his previous tweet, stating that the reference had no negative connotation and reading the statement otherwise is “unfair”.

Responding to the provocative tweet, Saina stated that his choice of words could have been better. 

The commission has uploaded the press note and other related documents on its official handle on Twitter.