COVER STORY
in Times of India dated
September 13, 2014,
Bollywood
actress
Deepika
Padukone
had
commented
on the Shweta Basu
Prasad case. Speaking
to Indiatimes about
Shweta,
Deepika
said that there is
nothing wrong with
it (her involvement in
prostitution) if it was
the only thing she
could do to support
herself and family. She
said that it is unfair to
make a scandal about
it and rather than
looking down upon
her, it was time to get
together and support
her.
and wrote, “My take
on Shweta Prasad.
Great actress (Iqbal).
Sweet wonderful girl.
Don’t judge her and
leave her be for god’s
sake!!!”
Director
Hansal
Mehta went a step
ahead and offered
the her a role in his
upcoming film too.
He took to Twitter and
wrote, “Stop posting
pictures of Shweta.
Put out the pictures
of her wealthy clients
and the pimp. Expose
the scumbags not the
soft target. I intend to
offer Shweta Prasad a
It was not just Deepika role in my next film.
who came in support She was so good in
of National Award Makdee.”
winner Shweta Basu
Prasad.
Filmmakers
Karan
Johar
and Sakshi wrote, “I’m
at
the
Vishal
Bhardwaj appalled
also touched upon way the issue has
this sensitive case. been dealt with by
Filmmaker
Nagesh the media. We, the
Kukunoor
who people, are so eager
directed Shweta in to pass judgments
Iqbal came to her and share opinions
rescue on Twitter about her on social
media, but none of us
have walked the hard
yards in her shoes...
so, do we actually
have a right to judge
her yet? I don’t know
her
reasons
and
problems, and I don’t
know any solutions
either... All I know
is that she is kept
in a remand home
and that she has
apparently given a
statement accepting
it. At least she has
been brave enough
to accept it (as per the
reports)”.
There
are
many
troubling aspects to
this case. Firstly, was
Shweta being arrested
or was she being
rescued? If arrested,
should she not be
formally charged with
a crime? What was
her crime? Soliciting
for sex? Prostitution?
But prostitution has
two sides, a buyer and
seller of sex. You can’t
just arrest one side
of the transaction.
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