Akil Mallik, who slapped TV actress Gauhar Khan on Sunday during the grand finale of reality show "India's Raw Star" justified his act saying that he wanted to "teach her a lesson" for wearing "short clothes."
Besides, he was also "sexually attracted" to her and that seeing "girls in skirts" gave him a new high, according to a police official.
The junior artiste, who reportedly attended the shoot for the show for 3 days in a row, got into a heated argument with Khan over her skimpy outfits she donned for the show and warned her against wearing them. Losing cool, he eventually smacked her saying it was against the morals of the religion she belonged to.
He was immediately pulled away by the security and booked under section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), according to a Press Trust of India report.
Malik, who was produced at a Mumbai court, said in his defense that the slap was meant to "teach the actress a lesson." Reportedly, an official revealed that he was sexually attracted to the actress and that seeing "girls in skirts" gave him a high.
"Actresses are the face of society and they should not wear skirts and short clothes as they make youngsters get attracted to them sexually. These days, boys who are minors are also committing crimes such as rape and molestation and many of them keep obscene photographs of actresses in their pockets. If actresses stop wearing short clothes, crime will decrease and lead to a better society," Mid Day quoted Malik's statement to the police.
He will be in custody till Thursday according to the police. Apart from being a driver in Mumbai, Malik wishes to become an actor and so had taken up a part-time job as a junior artiste. He was initially working in Dubai as a waiter.
