There is no hiding from the fact that several Bollywood actresses have been a victim of sexual harassment. Time and again Bollywood actresses have spoken up against casting couch and harassment.
Recently, actress Payal Ghosh accused filmmaker Anurag Kashyap of sexually harassing her. Later, she filed an FIR against him at the Police station.
In her statement, the actress revealed that she had three meetings with the director back in 2013. She revealed that it was during the third meeting in his house that Anurag Kashyap suddenly pushed her to the sofa, opened his pants and forced himself on her. “I tried to shout a lot but he pressed my mouth and raped me,” she said in her police statement.
If her statement is to be believed, the three meetings took place in a span of a few days in August 2013. In the first meeting, the director had an interaction with her manager at Kashyap’s office in Aram Nagar, Andheri. The next two meetings were held at his house at Yari Road, where she had met him alone, said the 30-year-old actress.
Payal Ghosh’s second meeting with Anurag Kashyap at his residence
Payal said that the Gangs of Wasseypur filmmaker appeared to be decent. “During the second meeting I had a discussion with Kashyap for over two hours when he told me about his film career and achievements. I had dinner with him and after the meal he asked me to stay longer but I left saying that the driver would get late.”
The third time Payal Ghosh met Anurag Kashyap
She revealed that a few days later, the director sent her a message offering her a role. He asked her to meet him at his house to discuss the same. He had asked her to specifically wear a salwar kameez so that no one could recognise her, recollected the actress.
“Around 7:30 pm I reached Anurag Kashyap’s house in my Honda city car. He was sitting inside and smoking. The house smelled really bad and when I asked him, he said he was smoking marijuana. He also offered me a smoke but I refused. He took me to another room to show me his collection of films. While showing me the cassettes of his old films, he suddenly pushed me to the sofa, opened his pants and forced himself on me. I tried to shout a lot but he pressed my mouth and raped me,” she said in the statement.
Payal said that she somehow managed to escape from there. At first she did not tell anyone about this, but a few days later, she opened up in front of her manager and driver. Payal recollected how she was excited to file a complaint against the director then, but she was stopped by her close friends, who warned her that she probably would not get work in the film industry if she speaks against an influential director like Anurag Kashyap.
