Renowned hairstylist Jawed Habib has been booked under Section 355(assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour person, otherwise than on grave provocation) of the Indian Penal Code.
The incident took place when the hairstylist was conducting a workshop in Muzaffarnagar. A video citing the incident also went viral on social media on Thursday. in the video Habib can be heard saying “If there is a shortage of water, use saliva.” The audience in the background can be heard laughing and applauding this act of the stylist. After the publishing of the video, netizens were seen criticizing him for his actions.
Pooja Gupta, whose hair was being cut by Habib and the chief complainant, lodged an FIR in the Mansurpur police station. She also gave a public statement in which she stated—“Yesterday, I attended a workshop of Jawed Habib. He invited me on the stage to give me a haircut. He said if there is no water, you can use saliva. From now onwards, I will go to my street-side barber for a haircut, but will not go to Habib,"
The NCW(National Commission for Women) has asked the UP police to launch an investigation in the matter and the released video.
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“The commission has taken this incident very seriously and not only condemns this in strongest possible words but also seeks your urgent intervention in the matter to investigate the veracity of this viral video for immediate action as per law/procedure.
This incident also attracts violation of guidelines issued by the Union home ministry under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, whereby spitting in public is a punishable offense in the wake of the Covid pandemic," the NCW said in a letter to the state police.” said Rekha Sharma the head of NCW.
After the letter and the probe request to the UP police, the hairstylist went online to record a video apology into the matter. In the video, he stated—“ Some words spoken by me have hurt people. I want to say one thing that these are professional workshops and are long shows and when they are long, we have to make them humorous. What can I say? If you are truly hurt, I apologize from my heart. Please forgive me. Sorry.”
"When hairstylist Jawed Habib spat on a woman's hair, the audience cheered Habib's action. Not a single person objected to the shameful act by Habib. The woman has been identified as Pooja Gupta and she didn't expect such a humiliating experience," Tweeted Anshul Saxena.
Later upon speaking to news channels, Pooja Gupta said—“ He was not answering my questions. Then he pushed my head, I objected and said I have cervical issues. Then he spat twice on my hair and said that if you do not 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 told me he was joking.”