Mumbai: Nana Patekar refuses to comment on Tanushree Dutta’s sexual harassment allegations
The actor said his lawyer had advised him not to speak to TV channels, but made one statement: ‘The truth that was there 10 years back stands true even today.’
Actor Nana Patekar on Monday said the truth about actress Tanushree Dutta’s allegations of sexual harassment against him has not changed even a decade later, reported ANI. “The truth that was there 10 years back stands true even today,” he said at a press conference in Mumbai.
Dutta on Saturday filed a police complaint against Patekar who allegedly sexually harassed her on the sets of a film in 2008.
Refusing to answer questions, Patekar said his lawyer has advised him to not speak to television channels, reported ABP News.
Dutta’s complaint, filed in Oshiwara police station in Mumbai, also names choreographer Ganesh Acharya, producer Sameer Siddiqui and director Rakesh Sarang.
In an application to the police submitted on Monday, Siddiqui denied Dutta’s claims and said no molestation had taken place on the sets of Horn ‘Ok’ Pleassss, reported PTI. “Sameer Siddiqui today [Monday] morning submitted the application at Oshiwara police station,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (WR) Manoj Kumar Sharma.
Dutta’s claims were a publicity stunt, said Siddiqui. The Goregaon police station has already investigated the allegations, he added.
Last week, Patekar sent a legal notice to Dutta, asking her to apologise for making false claims. She has also received a notice from director Vivek Agnihotri, who allegedly asked her to take her clothes off and dance to give co-star Irrfan Khan his cues while they were shooting for Chocolate. The movie released in 2005.
On Sunday, Dutta said this was the right time for women who have faced sexual abuse and harassment to speak up. She was referring to the women, many of them media professionals, who have recounted instances of harassment and named their alleged abusers on social media over the last couple of days.
Ready to re-investigate Dutta’s allegations, says actors’ body
The Cine and TV Artists Association on Monday said it was ready to readdress Tanushree Dutta’s complaint of sexual harassment “by conducting a fair and expeditious” inquiry, reported PTI.
The association had earlier apologised to Dutta for not addressing her complaint 10 years back.
“If she asks us to reinvestigate the matter then we have told her that we will offer all possible support,” said Senior Joint Secretary of CINTAA Amit Behl. “But she has not yet officially come to us. Although we have spoken and written to her [about the matter] she is yet to revert.”
Behl said the association also wants to “hear Nana’s side of the story” and that the actor has been sent a letter regarding this. In the letter, the body has asked Patekar to share his story before it issues more statements.