Actress Anjali Raghav quits Bhojpuri industry after Pawan Singh inappropriately touches her waist on stage

Pawan Singh and Anjali Raghav

Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh recently faced heavy criticism after a video from a promotional event went viral on social media. In the clip, Singh is seen touching his co-star Anjali Raghav's waist on stage, even though she seems uncomfortable. This left many users outraged over his behaviour. Following the backlash online, now, Anjali has now reacted to the incident, stating her decision to quit the industry.

Pawan Singh touches co-star's waist

According to media reports, the incident took place during the launch event of Singh's song Saiya Seva Kare, which also stars Anjali. In the viral video, Anjali, is seen dressed in a saree and appears visibly uncomfortable as Singh places his hand on her waist,. Singh, meanwhile, claims he was trying to remove something stuck on her waist. He can also be heard telling her to stay still, sharing he thought he saw an insect.

Although Anjali is seen smiling awkwardly and did not say anything on stage, netizens slammed the actor for touching her without consent. Social media users flooded the comments section, calling Pawan's behaviour "inappropriate" and "unprofessional."

Anjali Raghav reacts

Reacting to the incident, Anjali shared videos on social media on Saturday, wherein she slammed Pawan for touching her without consent on stage. She said, "Main do din se bohot pareshaan hoon. Continue mujhe DMs aa rahe hain ki, jo Lucknow wala incident hua, usme maine kuch kyu nahi bola, action kyu nahi liya, thappad kyu nahi maara. Aur kuch log mujhe hi galat samajh rahe hain; kuch memes par likh rahe hain, ‘Yeh toh hass rahi thi, maza le rahi thi.' Kya public mein mujhe touch karke jaane se mujhe khushi hogi? Maza aayega? (I am very worried since last two days. Continuously, I am getting DMs asking why I did not say anything in the Lucknow incident, why I did not take action, why I did not slap. And some people are thinking that I am wrong; some are making memes, 'She was just laughing, she was having fun.' Will I feel happy if someone touches me in public? It will be fun?)"

Further, she added, "Jab main Lucknow mein stage par public se baat kar rahi thi, Pawan Singh ji ne mujhe kaha, ‘Idhar (pointing at her waist) kuch laga hua hai.' Usse thodi der pehle meri saree new thi aur niche tag laga reh gaya tha, toh mere dimag mein aaya ki shayad blouse ka bhi tag latak raha hoga. Main hass kar uss cheez ko daba rahi thi ki agar mera tag laga bhi hai, toh woh cheez, jiss time main public se baat kar rahi thi, side pe bhi bol di ja sakti hai. Isiliye maine hasske avoid kiya aur dobara baat karne lagi. (When I was talking on stage in Lucknow, Pawan Singh ji said to me, ‘Something is stuck here (pointing at her waist).' Some time before that, my saree was new and a tag was stuck below, then it came to my mind that maybe he was trying to remove a tag from my blouse too. I was laughing and suppressing that thing, thinking that even if there was a tag when I was talking to the public, it could also be said aside. That is why I avoided laughing and started talking again.)"