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Case of assault, insult filed against Jawed Habib for spitting on woman's hair
Celebrity hairstylist Jawed Habib had earlier taken to Instagram to apologise for the incident and said his intention was to make the workshop “humorous.”
A case was filed against celebrity hair stylist Jawed Habib under varied sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Epidemic Act amid a major uproar over a viral video wherein he is seen spitting on a woman's hair during a workshop in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar. Habib has also been booked for assault and insult.
Earlier, police had said the matter is being probed by the local police and appropriate actions will be taken against the hairstylist.
The controversy erupted on Thursday after the video of Habib spitting on the woman's hair started making rounds on social media, drawing a major backlash from netizens and caught the attention of the National Commission for Women (NCW).
Taking to Twitter, the commission said that it has taken cognisance of the matter and its chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to the DGP of Uttar Pradesh to “immediately investigate the veracity of the viral video and take appropriate action”.
In the video, the hairstylist can be seen using his saliva while parting the woman's hair and saying that in case of a dearth of water, one can use saliva. The woman, who identified herself as Pooja Gupta and is an owner of a beauty parlour, later told some TV channels during an interview that the hairstylist invited her on the stage to give her a haircut but instead “misbehaved” with her.
“I attended the workshop to learn something. But he was not answering my questions. Then he called me to the stage to teach hair cutting. He pushed my head, I objected and said I have cervical issues. Then he spat twice on my hair and said that if you don't have water in your parlour then you can spit. My husband was making the video. After I came down from the stage, Habib's assistant said he was just joking,” she added.
Habib later took to Instagram to apologise for the incident and said that his act was an attempt to make the workshop "humorous". “What can I say? If you are truly hurt, I apologise from the bottom of my heart. Please forgive me, I'm sorry,” he added in the video statement.
