India news: Viral 'Biryani' row sparks debate about consent

Twelve months after Air India Flight 171 crashed, killing 260 people, many questions remain. The investigation into the cause is ongoing, while families say they are still waiting for answers, accountability, and justice.

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said he had lodged a "strong protest" with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio after three commercial vessels carrying Indian crew were attacked by the US Navy in the Gulf of Oman earlier this week.

Jaishankar said he reiterated to Rubio "India's strong protest at the attacks by the US Navy in the Gulf that killed three Indian mariners" in a post on X. "Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justified," he wrote.

New Delhi also summoned a top US diplomat, the Charge de Affairs Jason Meeks, to protest the attacks on merchant ships carrying Indian crew.

While the US State Department did not comment on the call between Jaishankar and Rubio, it had earlier said it was in "direct contact" with the Indian government.

An Indian Air Force (IAF) transport aircraft crashed at an air force station in the northeastern city of Jorhat on Saturday, the military said.

The IAF said a Russian-made Antonov An-32 aircraft was involved in an accident during landing.

"A court of inquiry is being constituted, to ascertain the cause of the accident," the IAF statement said on X.

There were no details about casualties or the number of people on board.

The issue of consent is at the forefront of social media discussions in India, triggered by a viral clip from a stand-up comedy show, in which an audience member recounted a date with a woman, saying that after buying her a plate of biryani worth 370 rupees (€3.36), he expected sexual access in return.

"I spent money, so I should get something back," he told the crowd, drawing laughter from audience members, including comedian Pranit More, who was hosting the show.

Following the backlash, the web developer who made the remark was fired from his job, while More issued an apology for not challenging the comment instead joining the laughter.

The incident has sparked a wider debate in India about entitlement, consent, and whether paying for a meal gives a man any claim over a woman's body.

People also said the laughter from the crowd normalized everyday misogyny instead of challenging it.

This comes at a time when there has been persistent violence against women in India.

Nationwide, 29,536 rape cases were reported in 2024, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. There were 441,534 cases of crimes against women reported, the data said.

Fueling a debate on consent

Mrignayanika,* a Delhi-based development sector professional, told DW that this case sparked a discussion about how dating culture can slide into transaction-based thinking.

She said she always found it "exploitative" that men buying women drinks made the men feel "entitled to their time and attention."

She added she always insists on splitting the bill.

"I don't want anyone getting ideas about me owing them time, attention, or sexual favors because they bought me a beverage," she said. "I'd rather have my coffee alone."

Gayathri Sreedharan, applied anthropologist and founder of Izaar, a sexual health discussion group in collaboration with the Hank Nunn Institute, said India's struggle with consent education stems from the fact that "sex talk has a major free speech problem in this country."

"We can make rude jokes, but we can't talk about the basics — the health part, the biology, laws, things like conditional consent, which is at the heart of the issue raised at the Pranit More show."

*Name changed on request

Hello! This is Shakeel from DW's New Delhi studio, bringing you the top news from across India.

Can a plate of the South Asian delicacy biryani, worth €3.36, entitle a man to a woman's body? That's the debate raging on social media in India after a stand-up comedy clip went viral, in which a man said that buying a woman biryani on a date made him feel entitled to sexual access in return.

Meanwhile, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankarcalled US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to protest American strikes off Oman on three largely Indian-crewed merchant vessels. Three Indian sailors were killed in one of the strikes.

Also, the Indian Army laid a trap and nabbed a 21-year-old who was posing as a senior Army official.  

For all this and more, follow our live blog.