“Her breasts are so small, how will she get work in Bollywood”, one more actor accuses Sajid Khan of molestation

MUMBAI: Nearly 16 years ago, at a film party at a starred hotel in Juhu in suburban Mumbai, an apparently drunk Sajid Khan pointing to a woman’s chest and directly at her breasts had said, yeh toh itne choote hein, bade hone chaiye. Tab toh Bollywood mein kaam kar sakti hein yeh ladki.

These were the words uttered by the director to an aspiring actor Sangita Shilpa Anand in 2006, according to the latest #MeToo allegations against the Bigg Boss 16 contestant and celebrity.

Model and regional Tv actor Sangita Shilpa Anand Friday accused Khan of molestation and sexual harassment in an incident that happened several years ago. She explained that she did not speak up at that time because her family would have forced her to sit at home, but now when she sees Sajid Khan on Tv, she remembers the hurt and pain she endured almost 16 years ago, when she was sexually harassed by an apparently drunk Sajid Khan.

Speaking about her experience with Sajid Khan, she said, “The incident happened more than16 years ago. This was somewhere in 2006. I met Sajid Khan at a film party. I do not remember exactly, because I am not from Mumbai, but this was at a 3 or 5 star hotel in Juhu in the suburbs of Mumbai. There was a film party and my friends were going. I was doing regional Tv serials and modeling print shoots as well as episodic serials at that time as I am based in North India and had come to Mumbai for a few days for a shoot. My friends took me along for the party saying I should see how Mumbai parties. I was totally new at that time. Someone introduced me to Sajid Khan at the party. I was wearing a slightly low-neck top. He starred at my breasts for like 3-6 minutes and told the person who introduced me while pointing to my chest, yeh toh itne choote hein, bade hone chaiye. Tab toh Bollywood mein kaam kar sakti hein yeh ladki. Everyone laughed and took it as a joke and said he was drunk. I remember these lines clearly. The friend who took me along, said this is how producers and directors joke at parties. One must not take it seriously my friend advised me, but while all my friends considered it a joke, for me these lines or words by director Sajid Khan have remained etched in my mind forever. I will not forgive him. It may be funny for the others, but for a women – that too a fresher, it is definitely sexual harassment,” Sangita Shilpa Anand told this reporter, adding that she silently cried the entire night after going back to her flat.

In the past 15 years, actors, models and others like Saloni Chopra, Mandana Karimi, Aahana Kumra, Jiah Khan, Sherlyn Chopra, model Namrata Sharma Singh, Madhuri Sangita Patil, Rani Chatterjee, Sherlyn Chopra, Rachel White, Dimple Paul, Simran Suri, Journalist Karishma Upadhyay and many others have accused Sajid Khan of sexual harassment or molestation or both and Sherlyn Chopra even filed a police complaint against him.