Sai Dharam Tej Slams YouTuber For 'Disgusting And Gruesome' Joke On Child Abuse

Sai Dharam Tej slammed a YouTuber Praneeth Hanumantu and his other YouTuber friends for making an inappropriate joke about child abuse. The YouTubers were reacting to a viral video of a father reportedly beating his child with a belt.

Sai Dharam Tej is 'disgusted' after YouTubers comment on child abuse

Taking to his X handle, Sai Dharam penned a lengthy note asking the Telangana government to look into the matter. He shared the video where YouTubers can be seen discussing CM Revath Reddy's decision regarding the Telugu film industry. CM directed the state officials to set a pre-condition for filmmakers to provide a short video promoting awareness of cybercrime and drugs. During this, they discussed a video where a father is taking out his belt seemingly to beat his child. One of the participants can be heard saying, "First I liked the video but later removed the like. He went from Hi Daddy to Hi Nanna, to Pedo Nanna to Pedanna.”

On hearing the whole discussion, Sai Dharam pointed out that child safety is the "need of the hour". He requested the state government to take serious action against people making "gruesome" jokes in the video. "This is beyond gruesome, disgusting and scary. Monsters like these go unnoticed on the very much utilised social platform doing child abuse in the disguise of so-called Fun & Dank. Child Safety is the need of the hour. I sincerely request Hon'ble Chief Minister of Telangana @revanth_anumala & Deputy CM @Bhatti_Mallu Garu, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh @ncbn Garu & Deputy CM @PawanKalyan Garu & @naralokesh. Garu to take necessary action to curb horrific acts like this in the future," he wrote.

Soon after he shared the post, CM Revanth Reddy and Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka assured that necessary steps would be taken. "Thank you for bringing to our notice this issue. Child safety is an utmost priority for our Govt. Will look into this incident and take appropriate action. We will ensure that our government takes the necessary steps to prevent child abuse and exploitation on social media platforms. Let’s work together to create a safer online environment for our children,” wrote the CM.

Youtuber Praneeth Hanumantu appologises

Soon after the matter became controversial, YouTuber Praneeth took to his Instagram handle and shared a video in which he can be seen apologising for his mistake. He said, "My intention is not to normalise child sexual abuse and pedophilia…It was originally meant to be a dark video but the definition of comedy genre is changing everyday and jokes are being interpreted wrongly."

He added, "Until today I have learnt a lot by making mistakes, but today many have been blamed because of me, especially my parents who have always been there for me. Please keep away from trolling them. I am ready for any consequence and I apologise genuinely."