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Shetty quizzed over Gere kiss
28/09/2007 12:25 - (SA)
New Delhi - Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty was interrogated by authorities in India's western city of Mumbai over her public kiss with Hollywood actor Richard Gere, media reports said on Friday.
The 32-year-old star, en route to Berlin to participate in the Miss Bollywood musical, was stopped at the Mumbai international airport on Wednesday night by immigration officials who were unaware of a court ruling that overturned a ban on her leaving the country.
"She (Shetty) was held up and interrogated for nearly an hour as she was not travelling with valid documents pertaining to the case which is still in court," a senior immigration told the Kolkata-based Telegraph daily.
But the officials let her continue her journey to Berlin after the questioning, which left the actress in tears, Shetty's spokesperson Dale Bhagwagar told local news outlets, adding her client was subjected to harassment.
"This is not a lone incident. From the past few months, every time Shilpa travels out of the country, the immigration authorities hassle her. Is she expected to carry a copy of the Supreme Court order all her life?" he told The Times of India newspaper.
Gere apologised
Gere's onstage kiss on April 15 in New Delhi led to protests by conservative Hindu nationalists and Muslim groups in Indian cities who said that kissing in public was indecent and against Indian culture.
An arrest warrant was issued for Gere soon after the incident and Shetty also faced obscenity charges.
Shetty said she had not been offended and had no problems with Gere. Gere later offered to apologise, saying he had regard for Indian customs, but Gere also denounced a "small right-wing minority" who he said was responsible for the protests.
Later on in May, legal proceedings against the two actors was suspended by India's Supreme Court which said all action by police and courts would be stopped until it decided on the case's proper jurisdiction.
Shetty made international headlines earlier this year when perceived racist comments against her from Jade Goody, a fellow contestant of the British TV reality show Big Brother, were widely condemned.
- Sapa-dpa
- SAPA
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South Africa
