Daily Times

Indian Actor and model Kate Sharma has filed a molestation complaint against Bollywood filmmaker Subhash Ghai at the Versova police station in Mumbai on Saturday. Ms Sharma alleged that the filmmaker tried to forcibly kiss and hug her when he had called her to his house. After the complaint, Ghai tweeted that his “lawyers will take care of it.”

“He called me to his house on August 6. There were about five to six people at his house and in front of everybody, he asked me to give him a massage. It was shocking for me but I respected his seniority and agreed. I massaged him for two to three minutes and then went to the washroom to wash my hands. He followed me there. He then took me to his room saying that he wanted to talk to me about something. He grabbed me and tried to kiss and hug me,” Sharma said in her complaint.

“I told him that I wanted to leave but he threatened me and said that he will not launch me if I do not stay with him for the night,” alleged the Sharma.

“There were five to six people at his house. In front of everybody, he asked me to give him a massage,” said Kate Sharma in complaint against Ghai

Hours after the complaint was filed by Sharma, Ghai tweeted, “I am surely a great supporter of #MeToo movement and women empowerment but hope that those taking undue advantage of the movement do not end up diluting it for their own short time fame. I feel grief if someone is trying to harm my reputation. Any way my lawyers will take care of matter.”

Ghai is one of the biggest names in Bollywood to be called out by women for sexual harassment. He was accused of rape by an anonymous woman on social media last week. In the post, the woman had accused him of spiking her drink and raping her.

The 73-year-old director and producer strongly denied the allegations made against himafter his name cropped up in the #MeToo movement. “It is sad that it is becoming a fashion to malign anyone known, bringing some stories from past without any truth or blown up false allegations if at all. I deny strictly and firmly all false allegations like these,” Mr Ghai told news agency PTI.a
Apart from Subhash Ghai, India’s #MeToo movement has witnessed celebrities like Alok Nath, Nana Patekar, Kailash Kher, Rajat Kapoor, Sajid Khan and Vikas Bahl, among others, outed as alleged sexual predators.

Published in Daily Times, October 15^th 2018.