Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan apologised on Saturday after a video of him beating his student went viral, sparking outrage.
On Saturday, a video surfacing on social media showed the artist using shoes and slapping his student and employee over a missing “bottle”.
Netizens reacted strongly to the singer’s video, condemning his behaviour and calling it “disgusting.” Some comments on X say that the artist should be boycotted, while some even call for him to be arrested.
The singer released an apology video was published later, in which he said it was a “personal matter between a teacher and his student”, and identified the victim as Naveed Hasnain.
In the same video, Hasnain, who is seen standing next to the singer said that the “bottle contained water sanctified by a pir (holy man),” adding, “he had misplaced the bottle and forgotten about it.”
“He is my father and my teacher. He loves us a lot too. Whoever has done this act [of leaking the video] is blackmailing to defame my teacher,” he added.
Rahat added that he had asked forgiveness from Hasnain as soon as the incident occurred.
Reactions to the apology video are not very positive, with netizens finding the apology inadequate in the face of the violence of the first video. Many pointed out that the singer seems more intent on letting people know that the bottle in question did not contain alcohol, rather than apologising for his behaviour towards Hasnain.
(With inputs from ANI)