Anurag Kashyap's lawyer issues official statement on Payal Ghosh's sexual harassment allegations

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Actress Payal Ghosh on Saturday evening made shocking revelations as she claimed that filmmaker Anurag Kashyap forced himself on her in 2014. Accusing the filmmaker of sexual harassment, the actress took to her Twitter account and wrote, "@anuragkashyap72 has forced himself on me and extremely badly. @PMOIndia @narendramodi ji, kindly take action and let the country see the demon behind this creative guy. I am aware that it can harm me and my security is at risk. Pls help!" She also tagged PM Narendra Modi's office in her tweet and demanded action against him.

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap denied all allegations and said that it is a move of character assassination. The filmmaker's lawyer on Sunday issued an official statement in the matter which read, "My client, Anurag Kashyap, has been deeply pained by the false allegations of sexual misconduct that have recently surfaced against him. These allegations are completely false, malicious and dishonest. It is sad that a social movement as important as the #MeToo movement has been co-opted by vested interests and reduced to a mere tool for character assassination. Fictious allegations of this nature seriously undermine the movement and seek to unconscionably trade upon the pain and trauma of the actual victims of sexual harassment and abuse. My client has been fully advised of his rights and remedies in law and intends to pursue them to the fullest extent."

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Soon after Payal Ghosh accused Anurag of sexual misconduct, he took to Twitter and wrote in Hindi and that the allegations are baseless and he would have never behaved in such a manner with anyone. He tweeted, "Such a long time was in trying to silence me. Never mind. (But) While shutting me up, you lied so much that in spite of you being a woman, you dragged other women also into it. Please maintain some dignity, madam. All I will say is that all your allegations are baseless. I have never behaved like this, nor do I tolerate such a behaviour at any cost."

Opening up about her Me Too story, actress Payal Ghosh told IANS, "I was molested by a very famous director. The director told me that girls he works with ‘have a gala time' with him. The circumstances created at that moment were very embarrassing. It was Anurag Kashyap who tried to molest me in 2014." She added, "I tried to open up about it several times, but my family and close friends asked me to be silent to avoid any problem in the future. I wanted to talk about it, but I was silenced. We should talk about it so that people like him don't abuse their position of power."

Recalling the incident, Payal said: "First, I went to meet him in his office at Yari Road. He was talking to somebody else, and asked me to sit in front of him. He was busy talking to somebody else and that's why I left.

"Next day, he called me asking me not to wear anything glamourous that would suggest that I am an actress. He said ‘wear something simple'. So, I went to meet him in salwar kameez. He cooked for me, and picked my plates as well. I left after sometime but he messaged again, asking me to come. I refused, since it was late. He even enquired about who lives with me," Payal added.

After two or three days, she says she met Kashyap again, when the alleged incident took place. "He called me over to his home, and I went. I sat while he smoked. After sometime, he took me to another room. I got scared at that moment. That room had many cassettes, books and a sofa. It seemed like a library. After that, he suddenly got naked in front me, and asked me to remove my clothes, to which I said ‘Sir, I am not comfortable."

The actress continued: "He said, ‘all the actresses I have worked with are ready to come to me at just one call'. Again, I said that I am not comfortable. After some time, I said ‘Sir, I am really feeling uncomfortable and unwell', and just escaped from the place. I didn't meet him ever after that incident. He asked me to meet him after that incident also, but I didn't meet him. That incident haunts me till date," she added, sharing that Anurag was not even divorced at that point of time.

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