Topless Woman's Picture Shared on WhatsApp by Pakistani-Origin UK Councillor
'Embarrassed' Sheffield City councillor Mohammad Maroof later apologised for what he called an 'honest mistake'.
London, December 6: A Pakistani-origin councillor in the UK was suspended after he shared a picture of a topless woman on a WhatsApp group named ‘Mums United’, media reports said Thursday. 'Embarrassed' Sheffield City councillor Mohammad Maroof later apologised for what he called an 'honest mistake'. However, the opposition Labour party suspended him.
Mohammad Maroof, who represents Nether Edge and Sharrow Ward - one of the 28 electoral wards in the City of Sheffield, England - shared the picture of a topless woman when the WhatsApp group's founder Sahira Irshad presented a petition on knife crime. The suspended councillor claimed he immediately asked members to delete the unsolicited image. Viral 'Middle-Finger Fight' of Two Guys From NYC Was Staged, Watch Funny Video.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Maroof said he was trying to send a video of Irshad but 'accidentally' shared the objectionable image. “This is my private phone and I receive so many things that my WhatsApp has been set up to automatically save everything in my phone’s photo file," he was quoted as saying.
"Somebody sent me this photo, it may have come in the morning, and it went into my phone’s file. I tried to send the group a video and by mistake I pressed the wrong photo. As soon as I realised, I asked for it to be deleted as I couldn’t delete it myself. It was only there for a second," Maroof, who was educated in Pakistan and the UK, said in his defence.
He said that he has sent an apology to the group chat. "I sincerely apologise. I had no intention to do such a thing and to cause such disruption. I have a lot of respect for the group," he said. Council leader Julie Dore said it was “a very serious matter” and his suspension was immediate “until we have ascertained the details”, reported PTI.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 06, 2018 09:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).