SC grants anticipatory bail to Malayalam actor Siddique
The Supreme Court grants anticipatory bail to Malayalam actor Siddique in a rape case, subject to conditions, amid controversy over delayed FIR and ongoing investigation.
Back in 2011, Bollywood actor Payal Rohatgi had accused director Dibakar Banerjee of sexual misconduct. With the #MeToo movement raging in India, Payal raised the issue again and stated that she was hoping for an action against him.
While Dibakar has not responded to the allegations, a source close to him told PinkVilla quoting him: “I had categorically cleared my stand then. I have nothing to add.”
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In an interview to Mid Day, Payal reiterated the incident of 2011 and even asked Yash Raj Films, which is producing Dibakar’s upcoming film Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar starring Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra, to take a stand against him.
In 2011, Payal had alleged that Dibakar tried to take advantage during her audition for his upcoming films. She said Dibakar asked her to lift her skirt and show him her stomach. She also said she stopped getting work after she called him out.
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“I was working opposite actors like Irrfan and Paresh Rawal. But after I held the press conference, no one called me for an audition again. I stopped getting films. So I had to move to television. I kept myself alive with stage shows. It was a case of one brother backing another. According to Anurag Kashyap, I was having an affair with Dibakar. But if I were hypothetically having an affair, that still doesn’t make Dibakar right; he was married at that time,” Payal said.
She added: “After this entire incident, Banerjee did six films and he doesn’t look like a villain, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he used his sob story of a bad marriage to make a move. I didn’t file an FIR against him because I was intimidated.”
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