"I feel really angry at being dragged into this mess."
Actress Huma Qureshi, who was mentioned in Payal Ghosh’s allegations against filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, has strongly denied the claims.
Payal Ghosh accused Anurag of sexually misbehaving with her as well as demanding sexual favours in return for work.
The actress posted a video in which provided a detailed account of the alleged incident. She also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for support. She said:
“Anurag Kashyap has forced himself on me and extremely badly. Narendra Modi 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!”
Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, 22 September 2020, Huma Qureshi shared a statement. She wrote:
“Anurag and I last worked together in 2012-13 and he is a dear friend and an extremely talented director. In my personal experience and to my knowledge he has neither misbehaved with me or anyone else.
“However, anyone who claims to be abused must report it to the authorities, the police and the judiciary.”
Huma further added that the sanctity of the #MeToo movement must be maintained. She said:
“I chose not to comment till now because I don’t believe in social media fights and media trials. I feel really angry at being dragged into this mess.
“I feel angry not just for myself but also every woman whose years of hard work and struggle gets reduced to such baseless conjecture and allegations in their workplace.
“Please let’s refrain from this narrative. It is the joint responsibility of women and men both to carefully protect the sanctity of #MeToo.
“This is my final response. Please do not approach me to make any more statements on this matter.”
— Huma S Qureshi (@humasqureshi) September 22, 2020
Anurag Kashyap has denied Payal’s accusations. His lawyer also issued a statement denying the claims made against his client.
“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.
“Fictitious allegations of this nature seriously undermine the movement and seek to unconscionably trade upon the pain and trauma of actual victims of sexual harassment and abuse.
“My client has been advised about his rights and remedies in law and intends to pursue them to the fullest extent – Priyanka Khimani.”
Others have also come out in support of Anurag. These include his ex-wife Aarti Bajaj, Mahie Gill and Taapsee Pannu to name a few.
Meanwhile, Kangana Ranaut has supported Payal Ghosh.
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