Complaint against singer Papon for kissing minor girl he was mentoring - Page 10

After a video emerged of singer Papon kissing a minor girl inappropriately, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Friday issued a notice to both singer Papon and the TV channel. "We have seen the video and have gone through the written complaint which came to us from Supreme Court lawyer Runa Bhuyan. We felt this is a provocative case. Necessary legal action will be taken, the NCPCR official said.

"We are following the legal procedure. We will ask for their version as well and accordingly further action will be taken. We have guidelines on our website which clearly mentions rules for channels using children in their show, added the official.

Meanwhile, Bollywood celebrities like Raveena Tandon, Gauahar Khan, Farah Khan, Shaan and Sona Mohapatra have reacted to the controversy. Filmmaker and reality TV show judge, Farah said, "I know Papon, he is a good guy. But there is no doubt that when I saw the video, it made me uncomfortable. I don't think he meant to do it, but if it was my daughter I wouldn't like it. I think people should not touch other people's children and should just show affection to their own children.

Adding to it, the Mai Hoon Na director said, "I think, if you see the girl's face after it happened, you'll realise how uncomfortable she was. But like I said, he is not a mad person to do it while the camera was rolling. He must have genuinely not meant it, but it didn't give me a good feeling.

Actor Raveena Tandon, last seen in Maatr also expressed her displeasure at the incident. Raveena herself has been a judge of a popular kids reality show. She tweeted, "Disgusting! Shameful!Perverse! This man Papon should be arrested! The girls parents succumbing to pressure! The explanations given are ridiculous! Haven't felt such anger and shame to see this happen and some on tv debates actually defending the act!

Echoing Raveena's thought came Gauahar Khan's tweet which read, "Wasn't smothering a child's face with your palm rubbing colour all over it for 4 secs enough as fatherly love, that u had to pull the child's face then to strategically peck her on the lip??? There was no wrong camera angle or the child moving her face mistakenly BTW #papon

Singer Shaan tweeted in favour of Papon but later deleted his tweet. He wrote, "My stand is on assumption that it was actually a wrong angle and the kiss was not on the lips... Sona Mohapatra, said she believes Papon was innocent in his intent but the video is not in good taste. "Papon possibly should have been more aware of how this looks to a layman, she said. "A formality and distance in such a space would have been better...maybe boundaries should be maintained. Still, I think the man is innocent he just needs to be wiser.

However, the girl's father said that Papon is a mentor and a father-figure to his daughter. "What you saw in the video is not intentional. It was just a moment of affection that is being portrayed otherwise. I would request and urge the media to not pursue this further, he said.

Singer Papon also apologised in a statement which he published on his Facebook account. "I am very painfully conscious of the accusations that have been made against me in the last few days. Anyone who knows me would be aware that I am an extremely affectionate and expressive person. That is the way I have been brought up and that's how I have always been with people close to me or people I care for. To show affection for an 11-year-old child whom I have been mentoring for a while now is not an alien concept for me, he wrote.

(with inputs from IANS)

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Children cannot ~give consent. Consent is a concept used between two adults/where the power dynamic is equal. Parents cannot always consent on behalf of a child; there's parents who will even consent to child marriage. Parents aren't always looking out for their kids.