#MeToo in India has gained momentum after actress Tanushree Dutta accused Nana Patekar of sexual harassment at the workplace in 2008. After her revelation, many prominent names were exposed as sexual offenders including Anu Malik, Alok Nath, Subhash Ghai, Sajid Khan, Chetan Bhagat etc.
Amid all this, now filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani has been accused of sexual harassment by a female assistant who worked with him on Sanju. The woman claims that he sexually assaulted her over a period of 6 months between March and September 2018 during the post-production of Sanju.
Now, after her allegations, Rajkumar Hirani also comes forward and denied all the allegations. His lawyer Anang Desai said,
“At the outset, our client states that the allegations made against him are false, mischievous, scandalous, motivated and defamatory.”
Speaking about the allegations against him, Rajkumari Hirani has released a statement in which he has said that,
“I was completely shocked when these allegations were brought to my notice about two months back. I had suggested immediately that it is essential to take this matter to any committee or any legal body. The complainant has chosen to go to the media instead. I want to very strongly state that this is a false malicious and mischievous story being spread with the sole intention of destroying my reputation.”
In her mail, the woman wrote,
“I remember forming these words on my lips – “Sir. This is wrong…Because of this power structure. You being the absolute power and me being a mere assistant, a nobody – I will never be able to express myself to you. My mind, body and heart were grossly violated that night and for the next 6 months.”
She went on to write that,
“I had no choice but to be polite to him. It was unbearable but the reason I endured it all, until I couldn’t, was because I didn’t want my job to be taken away from me, and work to be questioned. Ever I was worried that if I left midway, it would be impossible to find another job in this industry if he were to speak badly about my work”.
