A complaint has been filed with police against the chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, and Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Sanjay Nishad in relation to an incident involving the former pulling a woman’s face veil (niqab), according to Indian media.

Kumar has been facing criticism after he pulled off a woman doctor’s niqab at a graduation ceremony. A clip of the incident was widely shared on social media, showing the 74-year-old politician handing a certificate to a woman doctor during the event on Monday and motioning to her to remove her niqab.

Before the woman could react, Kumar reached out and pulled down the niqab, exposing her mouth and chin.

While the clip has sparked widespread outrage across India and Pakistan, with social media users, activists and commentators demanding an apology and resignation of the chief minister, Nishad made remarks belittling the gravity of the incident, questioning the outrage over “mere removal of a burqa”.

Indian news agency ANI reported on Wednesday that Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Sumaiya Rana had lodged a complaint with police in Lucknow, seeking “strict legal action” and the registration of a first information report against the two leaders.

Speaking to ANI, the SP leader criticised the chief minister for his actions.

“A video of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is going viral on social media in which he is seen pulling down a woman’s hijab … For a person holding a constitutional position to behave in this manner means he is encouraging his other workers to engage in similar acts”, she was quoted as saying.

According to ANI, Rana also objected to Nishad’s remarks and recalled that the minister had commented that “why is there so much controversy over removing a burqa. His hand only touched her face. If his hand had touched somewhere else, what would have happened then?”

“Based on this, I have filed a complaint,” she said.

Advocate Misham Zaidi, who was one of the lawyers present with Rana, said that Kumar’s act and the remarks by Nishad had “hurt the modesty of a woman”, ANI reported.

“What Sanjay Nishad has done incites religious sentiments,” he was quoted as saying. “This is a clear-cut case under Section 153A, as you are knowingly engaging in such acts that could instigate riots, create unrest, and disturb the law and order of the state.”

Meanwhile, he added, “Section 354 will be applied to him (Nitish Kumar) directly for grabbing and pulling it (the niqab).”

According to the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section 153A pertains to the incitement of “enmity between different groups on [grounds] of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language,” while Section 354 of IPC deals with “assault or use of criminal force on a woman with intent to “outrage her modesty”.

For his part, Nishad has maintained that his remarks have been “misinterpreted”.

Speaking to the Indian news agency Press Trust of India (PTI), he alleged that his comment “was lost in translation and carried no ill intent.”

“My remark was tweaked and twisted, misinterpreted, its spirit lost in cacophony and translation,“ Nishad was quoted as saying.