Actor Payal Ghosh has registered an FIR against filmmaker Anurag Kashyap after she accused him of sexual misconduct in 2013. In her statement to the Versova police, the actress confirmed meeting the director 3 times 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.
According to the statement, the three meetings took place in a span of a few days in August 2013. While the first one was with her manager at Kashyap’s office in Aram Nagar, Andheri, the next two were at his house at Yari Road, where she had met him alone, confirmed the 30-year-old actress.
Payal Ghosh’s second meeting with Anurag Kashyap at his residence
Divulging details about her second meeting with director Anurag Kashyap, Payal said that he 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 after a few days she received a text message from Kashyap, who offered her a role and 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 as soon as she got a chance she escaped from there. At first she did not share her experience with anyone, but a few days later, she opened up in front of her manager and driver. Payal recollectd how she was keen on filing 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 inductry if she speaks against an influential director like Anurag Kashyap.
“The Me Too movement gave me some courage. I shared it with my sister and cousin brother this month and after consulting my kin, we decided to file a complaint,” she said in the statement.
As stated by the actress in her police statement, her manager, who use to handle her social media accounts, had sent Anurag Kashyap a Facebook friend request on her behalf in 2013 and had fixed the first meeting with the director.
Anurag Kashyap normalised the incident saying that physical relationships between filmmakers and actresses were very common in the film industry
We had reported earlier, how Ghosh alleged that Kashyap had justified his act by saying that physical relationships between filmmakers and actresses were very common in the film industry. Ghosh had called Kashyap a hypocrite for speaking on the issues of women empowerment and patriarchy and on the other hand allegedly trying to sexually abuse her.
Payal Ghosh had made these serious allegations against the filmmaker during an interview with ABN Telugu.
After the video of Payal Ghosh came to the notice of National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma, she advised Payal to send a detailed complaint to them on the issue and assured that the commission will look into the matter.
Initially, the Mumbai police had made actress Payal Ghosh wait till 2 AM, but did not file a sexual assault complaint against Anurag Kashyap. However, a day later the Mumbai police registered an FIR under the Penal Code Section 376 (I) (rape), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty, 341 (wrongful restraint) and 342 (wrongful confinement), against filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and initiated an inquiry in the matter.
According to reports, Anurag will soon be called for questioning regarding the alleged seven-year-old incident.
