Netflix Says Executives Have Not Been Arrested in India Over ‘A Suitable Boy,’ Despite Police Complaint
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Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
Netflix says two of its executives in India have not been arrested despite reports of a police complaint being filed against them over the series A Suitable Boy. “No one has been arrested,” a Netflix spokesperson told The Daily Beast. The BBC limited series, based on a novel by popular author Vikram Seth and licensed by Netflix for distribution, features a kiss between a Muslim boy and a Hindu girl set against the backdrop of a Hindu temple. A type of complaint known as a First Information Report was filed Monday with police in the state of Madhya Pradesh against Monika Shergill, Netflix India’s VP of content, and Ambika Khurana, Netflix India’s director of public policy, accusing them of malicious acts done intentionally to insult Hindu religious beliefs. Gaurav Tiwari, leader of the Madhya Pradesh youth wing of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, filed the complaint against the two women. Tiwari and others have called for a boycott of the streaming service. Separately, the state’s interior minister has directed police to investigate the show’s “objectionable scenes.”