Mumbai:
There seems to be no end to the paanipuri saga. After creating a furore among street food lovers, and causing political parties to rally for mileage, a new angle has emerged, this time over alleged character-assassination.
After she blew the urine -renched lid off the paanipuriwala's misdemeanour in Naupauda in Thane, Ankita Rane filed a case against BJP leader Raj Purohit at Azad Maidan Police Station yesterday, claiming that he had allegedly outraged her modesty by branding her "characterless." She has also slapped a defamation case against him, demanding a compensation of Rs 1 crore from the leader. Purohit had allegedly said that women hailing from "cultured homes" did not observe such obscene things.
Ankita Rane (c) has slapped a defamation case against BJP's Raj Purohit, demanding a compensation of Rs 1 crore. Purohit had allegedly said that women hailing from "cultured homes" did not observe such obscene things.
Purohit, in a public speech before the Mumbai hawkers on May 2, had called Rane "characterless" for having recorded the paanipuri vendor take a leak into the very vessel from which he was serving up his clients. Furious with being labelled immoral, she decided to file a police complaint against the leader. "I had no vested interests in exposing the disgusting episode that I witnessed. I did it out of pure concern for the general health and welfare of society," said Rane.
She added that she did not sneak into a toilet to record the incident, but only captured what was taking place openly in the public eye. "Would Purohit have reacted in the same way if his relatives had consumed the paanipuri contaminated with a man's urine?" she retorted.
Akhilesh Chaubey, Rane's lawyer, said that Purohit had outraged her modesty by using obscene language. "We have issued him a notice for defamation," said Chaubey. The matter has been generating a great deal of public opinion, with social networking sites abuzz with posts criticising Purohit's allegedly prejudiced and unfair comments on Rane. Meanwhile, the Azad Maidan police, who have registered the complaint, said that investigations were underway and appropriate action would be taken.
Purohit said that he was not acquainted with Rane personally, and had not intended to malign her image. "I think it is flagrantly obscene for a woman to record a man relieving himself. This is not expected of a woman," said Purohit. He further opined that instead of recording the incident, Rane should have approached the police. "Displaying it to the media was also uncalled for," he added.