Sajid Khan asked me to remove my inner wear: Madhuri Sangita Patil speaks up

MUMBAI: As more and more women come forward to speak up against director Sajid Khan, his problems seem to be getting worse by the day.

Sajid is a contestant on the reality show Bigg Boss season 16, hosted by Salman Khan and aired on Colors. There have been several calls from activists and other actors to sack him from the show.

The latest to speak up against Sajid is a 20-something Marathi actress and model Madhuri Sangita Patil who has accused Khan of asking her to remove her clothes and her innerwear during a casting session.

According to Madhuri Patil, she had gone to meet Sajid about 6 years ago. “I was not even 18 at that time. There was some casting for some cameo film roles going on and I was totally new to the modeling and acting scene. Someone told me there was some casting going on for small roles in a Bollywood film and asked me to meet a particular co-ordinator and casting director. When I went there, the casting director said the audition would be taken by Sajid Khan and re-directed me to a bungalow at Aaram Nagar near Yari Road, Versova,” Madhuri told this reporter.

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“When I entered the bungalow, I was taken to an inner room and told to wait. I was told Sajid would come and talk to me. After waiting for nearly 20 minutes, he came into the room and began to ask me questions. I had never met Sajid Khan in my life and I was flabbergasted. Since I am small-busted and sort of skinny, he began asking me questions about my body and why my breasts were small. Suddenly out of the blue, he asked me to remove my clothes as well as all of my underwear and said he wanted to see the size of my breasts. He said unless he saw my naked chest, he cannot go ahead with the audition process. I refused and walked away from the place almost in tears. I did not want to talk about his incident. I had suppressed it in the depths of my mind. Struggling actors like me have to face such situations on a daily basis. But today, when several women have come forward to speak up against Sajid Khan, I mustered the courage to narrate this incident, which happened to me nearly six years ago, when I was less than 18 years old,” Madhuri said.

She has done episodic roles in serials like CID, Crime Patrol and small roles in Marathi films. She has also featured in religious video albums and web series.

Sajid Khan has been accused of sexual assault and harassment, including flashing his private parts at parties, asking female actors to send him their nude pictures as part of the casting process and watching porn in front of women. He also women to strip and remove their clothes while casting or expose their private parts.