HYDERABAD: Tennis star Sania Mirza on Friday denied favouring pre-marital sex and alleged that media had misquoted her over the issue.

Claiming that she was totally against pre-marital sex, Sania said she was pained at the maligning of her image by misquoting her. She said a non-issue has been turned into a serious controversy by misquoting her.

“I would like to clearly say on record that I could not possibly justify pre-marital sex as it is a very big sin in Islam and one which I believe will not be forgiven by Allah,” Sania said in a statement issued here.

Her clarification came a day after strong protests from Muslim community and also various other organisations over the reported comments made in New Delhi on Wednesday.

“Attributing a viewpoint that is totally contrary to what I believe in and what I stand for as a Muslim and as an Indian girl is a creation of media to sensationalise a story and such sensitive issues needed to be confirmed before making such attempts,” she said.

Sania had said on Wednesday: “So there are two issues here, safe sex and sex before marriage. You don’t want me to tell you that you have to have
safe sex, whether it is before or after marriage. Everyone must know what he or she is doing.”

Her support to Tamil actress Khushboo, who held similar views, drew strong protests from various quarters, who demanded that she withdrew her remarks and tender an apology.

At the same summit, Sania was quoted as saying that it really did not matter if her skirt was six feet long or six inches long.

She was reacting over a controversy over her dress code and a fatwa issued by a Muslim cleric. Sania, however, denied that the comments were made in the context of fatwa.