Hairstylist Jawed Habib on Tuesday appeared before the National Commission for Women (NCW) in connection with the viral video that showed him spitting on a woman’s head while styling her hair. The women’s body, last Friday, issued a summon to Habib to appear before it on January 11.
After the hairstylist appeared before the Commission, he said, “I have given my statement. I have given the same statement which I gave earlier. It was just an act. I have made a mistake and apologized for the same. When asked if any action will be taken against him in future, he said, ‘let’s see. Will face whatever will happen, but yes I have apologized.”
Meanwhile, NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma expressed dissatisfaction over the apology and denied that it was a show of “act” adding that it was “demeaning” to the woman on whom the demonstration was being given at a workshop in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar.
The NCW chairperson said, “Jawed Habib was denying the whole incident. He said he was just making a noise and he was acting to which we said that acting was itself very demeaning to the woman who was sitting there. Secondly, it was not looking like acting and he is a personality who is teaching so many people. Maybe he was not spitting, but others are learning to spit that too during COVID days. He apologized and has also given his apology in writing”. When asked if NCW is satisfied with his statement, Sharma said, “No. We have already written to the police that they should investigate. They have to talk to the woman whether he spat or not. So, the FIR is already there. They will pursue it and we will also pursue it with the police and see what comes out of that investigation”.
A viral video of Jawed Habib sparked controversy on Thursday in which the popular hairstylist was seen using his spit to style a woman’s hair during a workshop. The video, which did the rounds on various social media platforms, was from a training seminar organized by Habib for hairstylists on January 3 in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar. After the video gained virality, the woman in the video came forward to recount the bad experience.
She said, “My name is Pooja Gupta. I run a parlor named Vanshika beauty parlor and am a resident of Baraut. Yesterday I attended a workshop of Jawed Habib sir. There he invited me on the stage to give me a haircut and he misbehaved. He said if there is no water, you can spit. It would be better if I had gone to my streetside barber and get a haircut, rather than going to Habib.”
