IANS

Wellington, Dec 2: New Zealand's Human Rights Commission said it had received nearly 200 calls after a television host said British singing sensation Susan Boyle was "retarded".

Paul Henry, who hosts Television New Zealand's breakfast news programme, laughed as he read on air a magazine article about how Boyle was starved of oxygen at birth and suffered a mental disability.

"Here's the really interesting revelation - she is in fact retarded," he said "And if you look at her carefully, you can make it out."

A spokeswoman for the commission told the New Zealand Press Association Tuesday that a mediator would assess 185 calls about Henry's remarks to decide whether they breached the Human Rights Act.

Philippa Sellens, spokeswoman for the IHC, an organisation that raises money for people with mental disabilities, said it had complained to the commission that Henry was mocking a "part of society that has trouble speaking up for themselves".

David Rutherford, chairman of Special Olympics New Zealand, said that using "retard" to describe mentally disabled people was as hurtful as racial slurs like "nigger" and "kike".