The artistes’ association has issued a show-cause notice to actor Zakir Khan, who allegedly molested his female co-star while shooting for the Doordarshan TV show Pavitra Bandhan
After an actress wrote to them alleging that her male co-star had molested her during a shoot, the Cine and Television Artistes Association (CINTAA) has issued a show-cause notice to actor Zakir Khan.
mid-day’s August 11 report on the incident
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mid-day had reported on August 11 (‘TV actress alleges co-star molested her during shoot’) that the woman had approached CINTAA in writing, describing the way in which things unfolded during the shoot on August 3.
In the complaint, the woman, who works with Khan on the Doordarshan show Pavitra Bandhan, had alleged that Khan had touched her on her chest while shooting a kidnapping scene.
Gajendra Chauhan, committee member of CINTAA, said, “We have asked the actor to present himself before the dispute committee in the next few days to answer to all charges levelled by the actress against him.”
Chauhan further said he had spoken to Khan, and the latter claimed it had happened by mistake. Khan has been asked to present his case before the committee in the next three days.
The incident
On August 3, Khan and the actress were shooting for a sequence in which three goons had to kidnap the woman. In the build-up to the shot, the actress said she had warned Khan after he brushed his hand against her chest. In the following scene, while the goons were holding her tightly, the woman claimed Khan rubbed his hand on her chest.
After the shot was done, she even yelled at Khan for his misbehaviour, but, she claims, the actor nonchalantly dismissed it saying: ‘Aise scenes mein kahin par bhi haath lag sakta hai.’
CINTAA has also asked the production house, Balaji Telefilms, to present witnesses to the incident to help in the case, Chauhan added. The actress had claimed that Balaji had stopped her from going to the police, telling her to approach CINTAA for justice instead.
CINTAA had forwarded her complaint to the Indian Film and Television Producers Council, which wrote to Balaji Telefilms to take strict action against the actor. Despite repeated attempts, Ketan Gupta, COO of Balaji Telefilms, remained unavailable for comment.
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