Indian Actor Salman Khan Compares Himself To ‘Raped Woman,’ Enrages Twitter Users

Indian actor Salman Khan sparked outrage on Twitter after he said that his playing a wrestler in an upcoming movie left him feeling “like a raped woman.”

In an interview Saturday with Indian gossip website SpotboyE, the 50-year-old Bollywood megastar was quoted saying, “When I used to walk out of the ring, after the shoot, I used to feel like a raped woman. I couldn't walk straight.”

The actor, described as controversy’s favorite child and the Indian film industry's enfant terrible, is also one of the most popular figures in Indian cinema. Aside from his acting career, Khan is also involved with his charity organization, Being Human. The actor was sentenced to five years in prison in 2015 in a negligent driving case in which his car ran over five people, killing one, but was later acquitted.

Khan’s latest flick “Sultan” features him as a wrestler for which he had to shoot rigorous wrestling scenes. He said in the interview, “While shooting, during those six hours, there'd be so much of lifting and thrusting on the ground involved. That was tough for me because if I was lifting, I'd have to lift the same 120-kilo guy 10 times for 10 different angles. And likewise, get thrown that many times on the ground. This act is not repeated that many times in the real fights in the ring.” Later in the interview, he also called women a “vice.”

Twitter users did not take too kindly to the comments. Many took to the microblogging site to express their anger and outrage over the famous Bollywood star’s statement.

However, fans of the actor rallied behind him claiming that he had been misquoted by the media — #SalmanMisquoted started trending on the micro-blogging site.

The Indian Express newspaper said that the actor retracted the statement seconds after he said it. The report said that he immediately realized that he shouldn’t have made such a comparison saying, “I don’t think I should have.”

He then added, “It feels like the most difficult….I couldn’t take steps. I couldn’t take steps.”

India’s NDTV reported that the National Commission for Women has demanded an apology from the actor within seven days for his “raped women” comment.