New Delhi, April 13 (IANS): Singer Mika Singh, against whom an FIR has been registered for slapping a doctor during a performance here, says he did it because the latter was drunk and did not listen to him.
According to reports, police have registered a case of causing hurt and wrongful restraint against the hit Punjabi singer at Inderpuri police station.
The victim, Shrikant, is an ophthalmologist at Ambedkar Hospital and reportedly suffered some internal injury in his left ear due to the assault.
Mika says the incident took place because of a rude gesture by Shrikant, after the singer had asked him to not to stand among the women.
"During the show, I had requested that the ladies come forward and the men step towards the left so that the ladies and children could also enjoy. I'd told the guy not to stand among the ladies at least five times. He was drunk and he did not listen to me.
"Then he started waving the middle finger at me and I called him on the stage and told him to repeat the same gesture in front of the audience," Mika told a news channel.
The incident took place on Saturday evening at a concert organised by the Delhi Ophthalmological Society (DOS) as a part of their three-day conference being held at the Delhi Pusa Institute Mela Ground in Inderpuri.
Talking about his side of the story, Shrikant told the news channel: "Mika was asking me to move to the other side in a very insulting way... He ordered his bouncers to get me on the stage and there he said, 'Why didn't you listen to me?'... And Mika slapped me on the stage," Shrikant said.
Shrikant's colleagues reportedly created a ruckus at the venue soon after the incident, leading to intervention by the police.