Mumbai: After being heavily trolled for her comment that seemed like she was defending a girl for cheating in a relationship, actress Neha Dhupia on Saturday took to social media to defend herself. She posted a lengthy statement, declaring she has been misinterpreted.
The controversy started after a recent episode of the ongoing season of “MTV Roadies Revolution”, wherein Neha, who is a gang leader, reprimanded a male contestant for slapping a girl, for allegedly cheating on him with five other boys. She also defended the girl saying as far as cheating goes, “it’s her choice”.
Neha’s attitude, however, did not find favour with netizens, with many users alleging she was a “fake feminist”.
Responding to the trolls, Neha wrote: “Roadies is a show that I have been a part of for five years and enjoyed every bit of it. It takes me all over India and gives me the opportunity to team up with absolute rock stars from all parts of the country. What I do not like or accept is what is happening for more than two weeks now! Recently during one of the episodes that aired, I took a stand against violence.
“A guy talked about his partner who cheated on him (allegedly) and in retaliation, he hit her by his own admission. What the girl did is a choice she made which is a moral choice regardless of someone, man or woman… adultery is a moral choice. Cheating is not something I stand for, and it is unfortunate that I have been misrepresented for the same… but what I do stand for is women’s safety.”
She also stated how trolls have affected her family members.
“Sadly, as a reaction to my opinion, I have been subjected to weeks of vitriol. One of my posts had over 56k comments! Yet I was silent but now people close to me who have nothing to do with this – my family, my friends, my co-workers and even my dad’s personal WhatsApp are being flooded with abuses and harassment. My daughter’s page is nothing less than a barrage of abuses and this is not acceptable to me,” Neha added.
“What a man or a woman does in a relationship is their choice and moral choices are always ambiguous. But no matter what they are, they cannot lead to physical abuse. I stand by the fact that NO MATTER WHAT … physical abuse or assault is not acceptable. Obviously, a man’s physical strength is a lot more than girls and gender-based violence against women is a huge problem in our country and across the world… I urge people, whether a man or woman, to educate themselves about domestic violence… If you’re a victim of abuse, please stand up for yourself. You are not alone,” she concluded.
