"Dirty." "Perverted mind." "Disgusting."

These were the words India's Supreme Court used on Tuesday while granting interim protection from arrest to a popular YouTuber who has been in the eye of a storm in the country over the past week.

The furore began after Ranveer Allahbadia - whose YouTube channel BeerBiceps has eight million followers - asked a contestant the question: "Would you rather watch your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life or join in once and stop it forever?"

The comments, made on the show India's Got Latent on 9 February, sparked massive outrage, police cases and even death threats. YouTube quickly removed the episode, but that didn't stall the tide of anger directed at Allahbadia and the show.

In fact, the amount of attention the incident has received is mind-boggling: it has made national headlines, been covered on primetime TV and some of India's most prominent news sites have even run live pages.

Not surprising, considering the star status of Allahbadia. He has interviewed federal ministers, top Bollywood celebrities, cricketers and Hollywood actors. And last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed him a "National Creators Awards" trophy.

Since the controversy erupted, Allahbadia and the show's creator, Samay Raina, have apologised for the comments and Raina has taken down all previous episodes of the show. The Supreme Court in its recent order has even banned Allahbadia from posting content on social media.

But the incident continues to make news.

"It feels like the state is trying to make an example out of Allahbadia," says Apar Gupta, founder of the Internet Freedom Foundation. Saket Gokhale, an opposition lawmaker, also condemned the targeting of Allahbadia and the show.

"Crass content can be criticised if it offends you. However, you cannot have the state persecute and lock up people for offending your 'moral sentiments'," he

© BBC