Comedian Apoorwa Kshitiz Singh has been admitted to hospital after complaining of discomfort.
According to Superintendent of Police Dinesh Raj Mainali at District Police Range Kathmandu, Singh was taken to Bir Hospital on Tuesday evening.
Mainali said that Singh is receiving treatment at the hospital.
Singh has been in police custody for the past 10 days. He was arrested on August 28 after some activists lodged complaints against him at the Police Range accusing him of insulting the Newar community in one of his stand-up comedy acts.
Four separate complaints have been filed against him under Section 165 (Prohibition of undermining social rites and rituals), Section 166 (Prohibition of untouchability or discriminatory treatment on ground of caste) and Section 168 (Prohibition of degrading or inhuman treatment) of Chapter 10 (Offenses Relating to Discrimination and Other Degrading Treatment), and Section 65 (Prohibition of acts prejudicial to public tranquility) of Chapter 2 (Offenses against Public Tranquility) of the Nepal Penal (Code) Act, 2017.
A YouTube channel called Comedy Cafe had uploaded a video of Singh’s stand-up comedy titled “Newarko Parampara” (Newar’s Tradition) on August 26. However, the video was removed within 24 hours following criticism as many people from the Newar community objected to it and accused Singh of mocking their language, food and culture.
Singh later apologized for it through Facebook, but some activists still lodged complaints with the police demanding action against him. He was subsequently taken into custody for investigation.
The activists had agreed to get Singh released after holding discussion with his parents and representatives at the Police Range on Sunday. They had also prepared a letter which stated that they had forgiven Singh for his mistakes and requested the police to release him. Therefore, he was expected to be released on Monday itself. But the police refused to let him go saying there were multiple complaints against him and they had yet to prepare the investigation report.
