Salman Khan Summoned By National Commission For Women Over Rape Remarks

New Delhi: Actor Salman Khan has been summoned by National Commission for Women on July 8 for his remarks that he felt "like a raped woman", a comment that ignited public outrage.

The 50-year-old actor has not apologised for his remarks, made earlier this month, which prompted the National Commission for Women to ask for a public apology.

Mr Khan's lawyer had earlier this week sent a response from the actor to the women's rights body, after which its head, Lalitha Kumaramangalam, said "from the first prelude of the letter, he hasn't apologised".

"I have been told by people who know him that he does not apologise," Ms Kumaramangalam had told NDTV.

Mr Khan had ignored a request to appear before the Women's Commission in Mumbai yesterday, which has now summoned him on July 7. Salman Khan was in Madrid last week attending the IIFA Awards and is now back in Mumbai.

Earlier this month, while speaking with reporters about his new release, Sultan, Mr Khan said that his training for the role of a wrestler in the film was so gruelling that he felt "like a raped woman". His supporters point out that a few minutes later, he told journalists that he shouldn't have made the comment. Sultan releases next week.

However, he has after that refused to address the controversy. His father, Salim Khan, a noted script-writer, tweeted an apology on the actor's behalf.

His brother, Arbaaz Khan, a producer, stressed that Mr Khan's "intent was not wrong", that a comparison on "works like a donkey" would not have elicited similar anger, and that the analogy, while a poor choice, should not be misconstrued as insensitivity towards women

Mr Khan spent a week in jail in Rajasthan on charges of shooting an endangered gazelle; another case accusing him of running over a homeless man sleeping on a Mumbai pavement in 2002 is being heard by the Supreme Court after a Mumbai court acquitted the actor.