CHENNAI: Two youth found teasing a woman hailing from the Northeast who was watching Chennaiyin FC vs Northeast United FC ISL game at Nehru Stadium on Thursday, were arrested under the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Harassment of Women Act.
Tamilselvan (18) and Karthik Kumar (20) were seen continuously taunting her in a video that went viral. Their demeaning barbs and dancing with suggestive gestures of mocking and racism caused a furore on social media. The inaction of other fans in the vicinity added to the collective anger.
John Abraham, owner of North East FC, reacted strongly after the video was brought to his notice.
“We stand with you and you will never feel alone as you must have felt at that moment. I will personally meet you and make sure you are ok,” he said in statement, expressing his solidarity with the woman in video.
John went on to lash out at the perpetrators. “I’ll call you fake fans because neither me or Abhishek (owner of Chennaiyin FC) will condone such behaviour from our own true fans,” he said.
Chennaiyin FC’s pinned tweet reads “Chennaiyin FC has a very strict and firm policy against racism and any unbecoming behaviour in the stadium. The club strongly condemns any such act.”
The two youth have been booked for harassment. If proved they had used racist words, they could be sentenced to five years imprisonment.