The Uttarakhand Police have registered a case against Haryanvi singer Masoom Sharma for allegedly using abusive language at a cultural programme at Dehradun’s DAV (PG) College on Saturday.
The complainant, Pranchal Nauni, a representative of the college’s Satyam Shivam student organisation, said that Sharma’s objectionable words hurt sentiments.
Police superintendent (city) Pramod Kumar said Sharma was booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)’s sections 296 (obscene acts and songs), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), and 351(3) (criminal intimidation). “We have launched an investigation into the matter.”
Sharma allegedly used objectionable language on stage while referring to a goon who he claimed had come to kill him outside the hotel where he was staying in Dehradun shortly after sharing the stage with chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at the college.
The video of the incident went viral on social media, prompting multiple police complaints against Sharma across the state, even as he apologised. Sharma said the goon had been loitering around the hotel where he was staying in Dehradun, due to which he and his team could not sleep and were under stress. “That anger was inadvertently expressed on stage. If my words have hurt anyone’s sentiments, I sincerely apologise,” he said.
Independent lawmaker Umesh Kumar, who was on the stage when the singer allegedly used abusive language, said Dhami had left around 45 minutes earlier. “I tried to take away the microphone and even attempted to stop him, but he pushed my hand away,” Kumar said.
“For the past week, a gangster from Haryana had been following him and had even reached Dehradun, outside the hotel where he was staying. He was under stress throughout the night. However, using abusive language at a temple of education is condemnable. I cannot support him for that,” he said. “Those who are protesting are justified, but twisting facts and trying to inflame the situation is not right.”