I normally do not post twice a day but such is the situation that I have to break all rules, interrupt regular programming and bring you breaking news.
Rakhi Sawant, India’s wonder girl, has become one of the first persons to be charged under the new Domestic Violence Law for women, a law that people thought was meant to bring violent husbands to book.
A local court on Monday admitted a criminal complaint against Bollywood ‘item girl’ Rakhi Sawant, recently involved in a kissing row with pop singer Mika, charging her with obscene performance at a show here on October 28.
Chief Judicial Magistrate (Patna) Sushma Sinha admitted the complaint filed by advocate Sruti Singh and transferred the case to the court of Shahaab Kausher, a magistrate, for further hearing to be taken up on November 10.
In her complaint, Singh alleged Rakhi’s performance here on October 28 violated the Indecent Representation of Women (Prevention) Act of 1985 and the Domestic Violence Law for women that came into effect from October 27.
She charged the obscene performance before a gathering of 3,000 or more was prohibited under these laws.
She filed the complaint under Sections 160 (punishment for committing affray), 253(a) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence and language, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 290 (punishment for public nuisance in cases not otherwise provided) and 292 (sale of obscene books) of the Indian Penal Code.
RTDM’s legal correspondent informed us that there is some confusion whether the case is going to Shahaab Kausher, of whom little is known or Shabab Kissher, who is known to be very lenient in these matters, being very “shababi” and “kababi”.
Our legal team is also stumped as to why a obscene performance before a gathering of 3,000 or more is prohibited by these laws but not for a gathering of say 2,999.
With the Bihar government ordering a total media blackout, the only person who could bring us more news was the redoubtable Lara Larani of IndiaDaily, the recent winner of the Greatbong’s Howitzer award for excellence in journalism. In a typically crisp headline that hits us where it matters, Ms. Larani says in the IndiaDaily editorial:
Rakhi Sawantr went topless while performing – lands in trouble with a criminal complaint
Lara Larani
Nov. 4, 2006The glam girl who wants to sell sex on the screen is now in trouble again after making truce with Mika the kisser of the year.
She was performing on October 28 and for a little time she started teasing the males with her exposed top. That brought attention of authorities.
A criminal complaint about an obscene performance by her has been filed in a court here. Her fans were chanting “do Rakhi do” but the local authorities are eager to “stop Rakhi stop”.
We are still trying to get more information about whether the audience, while shouting “do Rakhi do” meant “give Rakhi give” or “two Rakhi two” or “do (it) Rakhi do (it)—all of which make perfect sense given the context.
Advocate Singh who had filed the complaint refused to speak to media but RTDM found out from sources close to Ms. Singh that she took this step not because she is a person with too much time on her hands and a desire to see her name in the media but because Bihar is known to be tectonically active and it has been proven in Pakistan that obscene performances set off earthquakes.
Garhi Habibullah — Four people handed over their television sets for setting on fire after the Imam (prayer leader) of Eid Gaah, Garhi Habibullah, issued a call to the general public to destroy their TVs to put an end to ‘increasing obscenity’.
Prayer leader Shafqat-ur-Rehman, when contacted by this reporter, said he had issued the call to general public for putting their TV sets on fire because he believed that obscenity being spread through cable networks was responsible for the devastating earthquake.
“I made a call to this effect during combined Dua following Fajr prayers on Monday (Oct 10, 2005)” said Mr Rehman, adding that “the destruction caused by the earthquake was God’s wrath for the obscenity promoted by cable networks”.
Panic about imminent earthquakes was fanned by malicious rumours of Manisha Koirala doing a dance performance in Patna.
We will keep this page updated as details DO emerge.
The Greatbong Blog & Podcast 
I do not expect anything less from Rakhi. You go girl!
But why the fug has she been booked under domestic violence act?
hehehehehehehehehehe tends to infinity.
Classic.
But why the fug has she been booked under domestic violence act?
Don’t you think at least half of the 3000 men after being unDOne by Rakhi, will go back home, take one look at their uptight wives and turn really really violent?
She is being charged as an accomplice under the ‘provocation’ subclause of domestic violence act.
As usual greatbongs incisive research leaves me in awe. I wonder at some point if he should share his search secrets which he uses to dig up such heavily related but completly hidden news articles.
I am sure a lot of people are willing to pay for his bookmarks list as well
Kudos as always
regds
Dev
ha ha ha…Apparently, Rakhi had announced during the show, that she would never perform in Maharashtra but would always be happy to oblige in Bihar. Sad that she did not get an invite from Laloo himself.
…and what are Tsunamis caused by ? Must be wicked subwoofers these hip hoppers et al use at their parties.
Rakhi rocks. She’s hardly obscene, she’s hilarious.
The gathering needs to be 3000 for ‘public’ obscenity to kick in ? Imagine, a 2999 strong ‘private’ orgy or suchlike.
He he… as soon as I saw your heading, the first thing that struck me was how the DO could be interpreted in various ways, in Hindi or English. However, we can be sure of one thing, there is no ambiguity about the meaning of the ‘Rakhi’ part… surely the men weren’t asking for a (or two) Rakhi(s) from her by saying “Do Rakhi do” 🙂
Yourfan writes:
@GB: I have a few things to say on a serious note about this Domestic Violence Law for women. For those who think that I am actually GB in a disguise; let me first reiterate that I am a woman.
The Act is non functional for majority of the women in India and only one sided. Non functional because the vast majority of poor woman with or without the knowledge of the Act have no time/energy/finance/courage to seek redress after the grueling task of taking care of the family and low paying jobs. This new Act is only meant for urban educated women. Of course that is definitely some positive step for women folks in India which should be commended.
But I definitely think this new Act is highly one sided. It gives almost enormous power for the woman to arm twist their husbands/brothers/sons etc. The cases(I am only talking about educated urban families) where women are at fault (the reasons are dime a dozen)(all women aren’t saints) in so many marriages that I know of; they silence their husbands with the threat of going public with the husband’s supposed mental/physical cruelty and that too way before this new Act.The husbands know that if they go public then things might come out in the open that the male folks are not at fault but they have to admit that they have silently tolerated verbal and emotional thrashing by their wives. Which male want to face that social stigma ? I think to give any gender enormous power will cause unfairness and one-sidedness. According to me the law should be ‘Domestic Violence Law’ irrespective of gender.
Why don’t you write on this issue as I would like to know what bloggers (including you) think through their comments?
Anandabajar would headline, “Bibostra Rakhi Kisser-er Adalatey”!
GB,
At this rate Rakhi is a surefire candidate for the Minister of Culture. With her ability to attract media attention, two pending cases in her name and of course, her tremendous ability to create cultural flutter, she has impeccable credentials for the job!!!!
RAKHI naam hai mera,
kuch chhupake nahi rakhti;
peechwade pe sawan lekar
ghata hataya nahi jaati!!
“utha le re baba, utha le”, 2999 hearts screamed, mujhe nahi re, rakhi ka skirt..
@vuttaa: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
@gb: Fantastic! Waise, did you know that Rakhi-ji is nowadays strutting her stuff on Sony’s reality show Bigg Boss? I’m waiting to see who gets ‘privileges’ first!! LOLOLOLOL
ROFL. Rakhi’s the girl.
S
Wow…i mean…wow,
though i’m sitting here in uk and only updated on news about indian celebrities via this blog, i have to say that i was quite pissed off when i read about this deal. I cannot for the life in me understand why the indian public is so hell-bent on becoming lapdogs to stupid celebrities!! Rakhi sawant is not even that hot and obviously a whore determined to get as much moolah out of her ‘looks’. Goddamn her (p.s – i’m an atheist but i’ll believe he exists if rakhi is smited within a week).
I was watching one of the episodes of “Bigg Boss” – a take off on Big Brother series – in which Rakhi is a participant. And believe me, she is THE ONLY ONE in the entire gang of 13 housemates, who has some iota of wit in her! The rest of them are all “Bigg Bores”!!!
…and the flooding in New Orleans was caused by all the debauchery that happens during Mardi Gras.
So deceptively simple yet so profound. Wonder what the Imam will come up with next.
Maybe the domestic violence was caused by all the women beating up their husbands for chanting “do rakhi do”.
@Ronita: You DO girl.
@Confused: Methinks it is because of a provision which says that unlike other laws, the onus of proving innocence is on the accused. This is what I read about the Act but I am not 100% sure.
@Sam: 🙂
@Dipanjan: Heh.
@Dev: :-). In this case, the source of the links was my wife.
@Dipesh: Now that Mamata Kulkarni is no longer “hot”.
@Sameer: Yes..private orgies are legal. Even though with 2,999 it might take the guests some time to “mingle”…if you get the drift.
@Joy: Hope not.
@Yourfan: Aah cannot agree with you more. This is the reason why you, Yourfan, should have your blog where you should make these points and since you are a woman, your line of reasoning on gender bias in laws will be judged on the basis of their content whereas I have to put up with shouts of “misogynist” if I say the same thing.
@Diptikirti: 🙂
@Anirban: Rakhi as minister of culture and Mika’s “Ishq Brandy” as national anthem.
@Vuttaa: Peechwade Pe Sawan…ahem..
@Asha: Big Boss? Bo(obs) (A)ss = Boss?
@Suyog: I wish there is a Rakhi in every desi family.
@SirPyscho: Lapdogs to Rakhi? There are worse things to be..
@Ravindra: What a fun show that must be.
@Tintin: Aah but here’s the rub. Women beating up men does not come under its aegis. Gender equality anyone?
Yourfan writes:
@GB:Usually I don’t send comments twice for the same post unless of course somebody says something outrageously wrong and that gets to my nerve and makes me write. This time it is absolutely the opposite. I was so moved by your suggestion that I should have my blog and write about my line of reasoning on gender bias in laws that I decided to send a few more lines for the second time. So, next time be careful about what you write to me if you don’t want to see me sending comments twice for the same post!!!
I am honored at the suggestion but the reality is that I don’t have the time or the writing capability to maintain a blog which will attract readers as their comments are integral part of a good blog. All I did was written about my experiences in real life about prevalent gender bias in law.
I am sorry to say that now it has become lucrative to support women’s causes which include issues of domestic violence in the form of physical and mental torture. There are lots of scope/scholarships even in India if one is willing to work on women/children issues. I have strong reservation about that because it assumes that majority of women are deprived in one way or the other. The law/programs do not recognize that quite a large number of women(both rural and urban) are themselves sources of deprivation of male folks. I also have strong reservation about the law where the urban educated women take undue advantages of the law/programs by twisting a few facts here and there. It is like giving the quota benefits to the schedule castes creamy layers. I am all for uplifting mentally/socially/financially deprived/tortured people’s conditions but that should include both the genders. The law should not be one eyed and only look at the woman. I want fairness irrespective of gender.
It is true that if you write about this then you have to put up with shouts of ‘misogynist’ but why should that deter you? That is not the GB we know of. A much lesser mortal like me compared to you by the yardstick of writing/reasoning skill stuck her neck out although I am sure somebody might accuse me of something for talking about gender bias (assuming anybody cares to read my comments). I would still appreciate you writing a post on this issue and ensuing comments of your readers.
I resent that Rakhi Sawant is being called a woman of ill-repute by an ennobled psycho.
She is an extreme savvy person who is concentrating on her core competency and assets and making her two pice quite legally.(Er, I hope she pays her income tax)
Besides, from what the news channels have been showing, her style of dancing can be seen in every B-class Hindi fillum.
If that Madonna could sell sex, why not our bhery bhery own Rakhi Sawant?
In fact, in one of her interviews, she pointed out that her public persona is distinctly different from what she ‘actually is’. Wonder who coaches her for such sound bites.
As for that Kiss-by-Mika, it was a got up case to make her ‘famous/notorious’ before this BigBoss kind of TV show.
So, I am extremely sceptical about such cases.
Arnab,
Well done: I was in India when the Sawant-Mika controversy enveloped the airwaves with a mixture of NDTV glamour and Sun TV action. I love Rakhi Sawant; she is all that is hilarious and completely unfathomable in India. The gaurdians of Indian morality have decided that poverty and political inequality are not suitably existential issues. Domestic folks are uninterested in ‘garibi hatao’, having shifted to the far more expedient notion of ‘garib hatao’, while international donors are not satisfied with photographs in Bangalore, they want the slums of Kolkata. Consequently, there’s enough consensus to create a full ‘ministry of morality’ or ‘sanskritik mantralay’. What we face, or our unfortunate brothers and sisters face is the danger of ‘moral pollution’. In order to prevent such spiritual degradation, as well as help the continuing decentralization of government, there should be local ‘moral pollution control boards’ to monitor local cultural activities.
Moreover, our leadership is becoming increasingly amoral. For example, a woman from Italy is at the helm of ‘affairs’ in India: porn-stars and transsexuals are members of the Italian parliament. Furthermore, the head of the Army, the PM, and the Planning Commission are all ‘Amritsari Bhai’s’. Thus, a parliamentary committee should be created to advice on the issue of ‘morality’. This committee can be headed by a young MP who will benefit both from shouldering new duties and imbibing the ideals of Indian culture: Rahul Mahajan.
Shri. Vasabjit Banerjee
He he hehe .. good find..Let me tell you the Insider’s story – Rakhi Sawant was actually paid by the organisers to do the Janet-Timberlake act – however rustic Bihari crowd unaware of the super-bowl, thought that Rakhi was shy and started encouraging her!! And that’s how you get “do Rakhi do” … I should call Lara Larani now for this breaking news!!!
Found her even more dumb in real life.. I mean the way she behaves in Big Boss.. Btw, if you are planning to watch the show (if available there), abandon all hopes. Its NOT a celebrity show. There are no frikkin celebs there!!
Hilarious!. But reading about Rakhi in Sonia Falero’s blog , readers feel sorry for her! who is the real one?
I am confused
I cant blv she did a Janet jackson in Bihar – she wouldnt have been left alive by the randy folks there!India Daily has been bookmarked on my comp:-D
i got to see ms sawant is pyjamas and halter top in that bigboss show.
terribly unattractive.
it sort of gives hopes to us behenji brigade.
if she can, so can we.
Hilarious write-up. Good job.
If she wants to walk around bare-chested, why should anyone complain. At the very least, her chest will be better looking than her face.