India‘s top court has dismissed a blasphemy case against an actress whose provocative wink in a music video went viral earlier this year.
A conservative Muslim group had argued that Priya Varrier, 18, committed blasphemy against Islam by appearing to flirt with a boy in a video featuring a “sacred song.” The song, titled Manikya Malaraya Poovi, was about the Prophet Muhammad‘s wife.
The brief viral video shows Varrier exchanging flirtatious looks with a boy in a school auditorium while the song plays. The clip was taken from Oru Adaar Love, an upcoming Malayalam-language romantic comedy set in school.
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The clip has been viewed more than 14.6 million times on Varrier’s Instagram page, and more than 16 million times on YouTube.
An engineering student filed the initial complaint against Varrier and the film’s director, Omar Lulu in Hyderabad in February, shortly after the clip was released. The complainant argued that the song made “objectionable” reference to Muhammad’s wife, NDTV reported.
Police accepted the complaint and charged Varrier and Lulu under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.” Anyone found guilty of the charge can face up to three years in prison or a fine.
Varrier petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the matter shortly after she was charged, saying the song was not meant to offend.
“The song describes and praises the love between the Prophet Muhammad and his first wife Khadeeja and this has been misunderstood by the complainants,” she said in her petition. She added that the song has been popular among Muslims in the state of Kerala for a long time.
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