SHOCKING: Actor Ali Zafar sexually harassed me says Pakistani celebrity, mother of two
Pakistani singer and actress Meesha Shafi took to Twitter and shocked her fans with the revelation that she was sexually abused by singer, Bollywood actor Ali Zafar in more than one occasion and he harassed her despite knowing that she's a mother of two children.
FollowYes, you heard it right, in a social media post, the 36-year-old said: "my conscience does not allow me to be silent anymore."
She captioned her post saying, "Sharing this because I believe that by speaking out about my own experience of sexual harassment, I will break the culture of silence that permeates through our society. It is not easy to speak out.. but it is harder to stay silent. My conscience will not allow it anymore #MeToo."
Sharing this because I believe that by speaking out about my own experience of sexual harassment, I will break the culture of silence that permeates through our society. It is not easy to speak out.. but it is harder to stay silent. My conscience will not allow it anymore #MeToo pic.twitter.com/iwex7e1NLZ
— Meesha Shafi (@itsmeeshashafi) April 19, 2018
In her statement, the mother-of-two wrote, "As a woman, a public figure and a mother, I have always felt strongly about using my voice to encourage and support our youth who look up to me especially girls, who dream of carving their own path in Pakistan."
"Despite having a voice, there are some issues that are very difficult to speak about as a woman, especially sexual harassment." "If this can happen to someone like me, an established artist, then it can happen to any young woman hoping to break into the industry and that concerns me gravely."
She added, "I have been subjected, on more than one occasion, to sexual harassment of a physical nature at the hands of a colleague from my industry: Ali Zafar. These incidences did not happen when I was young, or just entering the industry. This happened to me despite the fact that I am an empowered, accomplished woman who is known for speaking her mind! This happened to me as a mother of two children."
However, Ali Zafar denied all of Shafi’s allegations and said that he would address this “professionally and seriously”. “I intend to take this through the courts of law… rather than to lodge any allegations here, to contest personal vendettas on social media, and in turn disrespecting the movement (#MeToo),” he wrote on Twitter.
— Ali Zafar (@AliZafarsays) April 19, 2018
Ali Zafar has worked in several Bollywood films including 'Tere Bin Laden', 'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan', 'Chashme Baddoor', and 'Dear Zindagi'.
According to top reports, it is for the first time a Pakistani celebrity has levelled allegations of sexual harassment against a colleague and it has come as part of the 'Me Too' hashtag movement.
