MUMBAI: Indian actor Payal Ghosh, who alleged Bollywood filmmaker Anurag Kashyap of sexually assaulting her, has claimed that her life is in danger.
Penning an open appeal to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ghosh claimed that her life is under the threat of the ‘mafia gang.’ “These mafia gang will kill me sir @PMOIndia @narendramodi sir @sharmarekha ma’am and will prove my death as suicide or something else,” she tweeted.
She had earlier claimed that she was being suppressed and humiliated by the entire ‘gang’ as she responded to actor Richa Chadha’s tweet addressed to the NCW chairperson.
Days after actress Payal Ghosh accused director Anurag Kashyap of sexual assault, the actress has now said there are threats to her life and safety. She has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Commission of Women Chief Rekha Sharma to protect her from the ‘mafia gang’ who might stage her murder as a suicide.
On Saturday, actress Payal Ghosh accused the ‘mafia gang’, siding with director Anurag Kashyap in the aftermath of the #MeToo allegations, of trying to hatch a plan to kill her. She alleged that the gang would then stage her ‘murder’ as a case of suicide. While seeking help from PM Narendra Modi, NCW chief Rekha Sharma, Payal Ghosh tweeted, “These mafia gang will kill me…and will prove my death as suicide or something else.”
Earlier, Payal Ghosh had slammed the ‘mafia gang’ on Twitter for trying to intimidate and humiliate her. While responding to actress Richa Chadha, who had filed a complaint against the actress for ‘dragging’ her name into the controversy, she asked, “Ms Chaddha how do you know I have falsely dragged your name unless the truth comes out, how are you so sure of Mr Kashyap (I’m wondering)??”
She had then requested the NCW chief to look into how the gang was trying to suppress and humiliate her. Payal Ghosh tweeted, “Please, Rekha Sharma look into this, how the whole gang is trying to suppress and humiliate me.”
Ghosh has accused Kashyap of forcing himself on her in his house during a meeting. She said that she had met Kashyap on three occasions in 2013. It was during their third meeting that Kashyap allegedly raped her. “Around 7:30 pm I reached Anurag Kashyap’s house in my Honda city car. He was sitting inside and smoking. The house smelled really bad and when I asked him, he said he was smoking marijuana. He also offered me smoke but I refused. He took me to another room to show me his collection of films. While showing me the cassettes of his old films, he suddenly pushed me to the sofa, opened his pants and forced himself on me. I tried to shout a lot but he pressed my mouth and raped me”, she told the police in her statement.
Upon Ghosh’ complaint, an FIR has been registered against Anurag Kashyap under sections 376 (I) (rape), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with an intent to outrage her modesty,), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the IPC. Earlier this month, Kashyap was questioned by Mumbai Police for eight hours.