Salman Khan rape remark row: Amid growing controversy, no apology from actor yet

Here’s the latest on the Salman Khan rape remark row. Amid the controversy regarding his comments, Maharashtra State Commission for Women has asked Salman to appear for a hearing on 7 July. The actor — who had been issued a summons by the National Commission for Women for 29 June, and had been asked to apologise for making a derogatory comment — has now responded to the NCW via his legal representatives. [caption id=“attachment_2862786” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Salman’s lawyers responded to the NCW’s notice to the actor over his ‘rape’ remark[/caption] News reports said that the NCW is now assessing Salman’s reply — which, apparently, does not contain an apology for the remark, through his lawyers. Several TV channels have claimed that Salman has said that he is a victim of his celebrity status, and his comments have been misinterpreted. Salman had said that the physically exhausting shoot schedule for his upcoming wrestling drama Sultan left him “feeling like a raped woman”. He made the remark to a group of mediapersons who were interviewing him regarding Sultan. However, he had immediately retracted his statement, admitting, “I should not have (said that)…” The actor’s comment, however, triggered national outrage as his flippant remark was seen as the insidiousness of rape culture in our society. Read all of Firstpost's coverage on the Salman Khan rape comment controversy here Several fans of the actor rushed to his defence, even as his father Salim Khan issued a public apology on Twitter. Salman himself has stayed silent silent on the issue, and only made a passing allusion to it at the just-concluded IIFA awards in Madrid, where he said, “Knowing me, the lesser I speak the better”. At the time of publishing this report, it is not clear exactly what was contained in the reply Salman’s lawyers have made to the NCW’s notice.