The Indian Women's Press Corps (IWPC) Monday criticised the manner in which a leading daily sought to justify itself against objections raised by a prominent Bollywood actress.
The actress, whose body part was described in the entertainment section of the newspaper, registered her objections to the description following which the daily went on to justify itself without so much as tendering an apology for having offended the actor's sensibilities in the first place, it said.
"The question is not whether the actor had not objected before or had posed for revealing photographs earlier, but that she had a sovereign right to object to what she perceived as offensive.
"Rather than display a sense of sensitivity to the issue, the concerned daily has justified itself in the most outrageous manner," the IWPC said in a statement.
"The commodification and objectification of women are very serious issues. While the Mumbai film industry also needs to reflect on this, on the continued portrayal of women which is far from emanicipatory, the media should not, under the garb of a libertarian understanding, portray women in a light which is actually regressive," it said.
