Weeks after Munmun Dutta used a casteist slur with grave consequences, another actress has repeated it and likewise been shredded on social media. Yuvika Chaudhary has apologised for using the word - a colloquial reference to a lower-caste community - in a video, claiming, just as Ms Dutta did, that she did not know what it meant. #ArrestYuvikaChaudhary is trending on Twitter after the former Bigg Boss contestant's video went viral - like Munmun Dutta, Ms Chaudhary used the word in the context of her appearance; also like Ms Dutta, she has edited the word out of her video.
"Hi guys, I didn't know the meaning about that word I used in my last vlog," Yuvika Chaudhary wrote in her post, despite Munmun Dutta's well-publicised use of it not very long ago, "I didn't mean to hurt anyone and I can never do that to hurt someone. I apologise to each and every one, I hope you understand." Ms Chaudhary's husband Prince Narula commented: "Baby jo hua galti se hua dnt wry main apke sath hu or apne maafi bhe kang (maang) le hai so i love u (Whatever happened, it happened by mistake. Don't worry, I am with you. You've apologised. So, I love you)."
See Yuvika Chaudhary's post here.
Prince Narula took the damage control further on his own Instagram, explaining in video clips that he and Yuvika Chaudhary Googled the word after being alerted to its meaning and then edited it out of her vlog. "We are the last people who will believe in the caste system," he said, adding that he would have taken preventive action before Ms Chaudhary's video went live had he known what the word really meant.
See the screenshot of his Instagram story.
Screenshot of Prince Narula's Instagram story
Yuvika Chaudhary's apology at least does not attempt to deflect blame from herself unlike Munmun Dutta who said in her apology post that her use of the word had been "misinterpreted." Ms Dutta, known for her role on Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma, also said that she had been "misinformed" about what the word meant because of a "language barrier."
Read Munmun Dutta's post here:
Munmun Dutta's apology was widely condemned as inadequate; a police complaint was also filed against in Indore, reported news agency PTI last week.
The precedent set by the case against Ms Dutta may mean real trouble for Yuvika Chaudhary. Ms Chaudhary and Prince Narula married in 2018; they participated in reality shows like Bigg Boss and Nach Baliye, which they won.