Mumbai: Actor Neha Dhupia has revealed that her family and friends are being harassed over her comments on physical abuse in a relationship that she made on reality show "Roadies", with people "flooding" her father's text messages with abuse.
In a clip which had gone viral on social media from the audition of MTV's "Roadies Revolution", Dhupia allegedly slammed a contestant who confessed of hitting his ex-girlfriend who was cheating on him with five men.
The actor had reportedly said that it was the girl's choice if she wanted to be with five men but nothing justifies physical violence.
Following the airing of the episode, the actor was heavily trolled for her comments, with many calling her "fake feminist", a "hypocrite", as netizens pulled out an old video of hers from the same show where a female contestant confessed of hitting someone and Dhupia is seen reportedly smiling.
Issuing a statement on Twitter, Dhupia said she does not stand for cheating, as "adultery is a moral choice" regardless of any gender but she is strictly against any kind of violence.
"What I do stand for is women's safety. 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," the actor said.
Dhupia, who appears on the show as one of the judges, said 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 added.
