Kissing row: Papon quits as TV show judge

Under severe flak from various quarters for kissing “inappropriately” a minor girl-contestant of a television reality show, singer Angarag Papon Mahanta on Saturday quit as a judge and mentor on the popular “The Voice India Kids” show being aired on &TV channel, claiming that “I am in no mental state to fulfill most of my professional obligations”.

A day after Supreme Court lawyer Runa Bhuyan lodged a lodged a complaint of “sexual assault” against Papon with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the Assam police also registered a case against the singer based on a complaint lodged with the Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (ASCPCR).  “Papon will be summoned for questioning,” a senior Assam police official said. Simultaneously, taking serious cognisance of Papon’s alleged act of “sexual assault” on a minor girl, Maharashtra’s Minister of State Women and Child Welfare Vidya Thakur directed the Mumbai police to investigate the matter. She spoke to Mumbai Police Commissioner Dattatray Padsalgikar about the incident and directed him to investigate the matter. Maha State Commission for Women  Vijaya Rahatkar confirmed that her commission had taken cognisance of the incident and would take necessary action.

Trouble had broken out after a video clipping from an event that was filmed on Tuesday –live footage of which was uploaded by Papon himself on his Facebook page — went viral. The footage shows Papon — after rendering a Holi song “ Rang Barse...”— going towards a minor girl-contestant, smearing colour on her face and kissing her in the mouth.

Apparently under mounting pressure from &TV channel management, Papon took to twitter to announce his decision to quit as a judge and mentor of “The Voice India Kids” show. “Since I am in no mental state to fulfill most of my professional obligations, I have decided to step down as a judge on the show till the matter in which I have been falsely implicated is fully investigated and the investigations are over”.