SEVERAL complaints from members of the Indian community have been received by the New Zealand Human Rights Commission over derogatory comments about Indians by Wellington DJ Neill Andrews.
The Facebook post by Andrews, who owns Famous nightclub, sparked outrage in January.
It read: "Just because we don't let groups of creepy Indian rapists into the club doesn't make us racist, they also don't buy alcohol.
"Probably so they can be sober enough to tie up the sack and lift the body into the back of their hybrid taxi, while wearing oversized leather jackets and sports shoes."
“While the comments did not meet the threshold at which they could be considered unlawful under the Human Rights Act, the Commission recognises that certainly they were offensive and understandably upset a number of people, senior adviser Rohan Jaduram told the Indian Weekender.
“The Race Relations Commissioner, Dame Susan Devoy, condemned the comments saying they were appalling and noted some people’s intention to boycott the nightclub.
“The Commission encourages people to use the Facebook online reporting mechanism to register comment which offends them, believing that major social media publishers do have a responsibility to maintain standards and be accountable for them,” Jaduram said.
ANZ, New Zealand's biggest bank, has said it would no longer hire Andrews as DJ, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Andrews said that he regretted his outburst, deleted the December 30 post from his Facebook page, but not before onlookers circulated it.
It polarised opinions on blogs and internet forums, where some readers were appalled but others supported Andrews.
Andrews said the situation blew up when the post got away from its intended audience. "I pretty much take the piss out of everything and everyone," he said.