'Housefull 4' Makers Release Statement On Molestation Case By Junior Artist, Deny All Accusations

Bollywood's #MeToo movement, that started with Tanushree Dutta's allegations against veteran actor Nata Patekar has gained momentum in the past few days and has brought up several other names of Bollywood celebrities who have been accused of alleged misconduct by women in the industry. In the wake of the same, a female junior artist came forward and launched a complaint against a man who allegedly molested her and her colleague along with 5 other men on the sets of the upcoming film 'Housefull 4' at Chitrakoot studio in Mumbai on Thursday, October 25. 

However, the makers of 'Housefull 4' refuted all liabilities in connection to the incident saying that it did not happen in the sets or during the shoot of the film. They stated that the incident happened post pack up outside the set and thus they cannot take any action regarding the same. 

following the incident executive producer of 'Housefull 4', Manoj Mitra gave out a statement stating that the incident that evidently didn't happen on the sets or during the shoot. In the statement, he said, “It is disheartening to hear about this incident. As an Executive producer, I would like to clarify that the recent incident that showed up in the news related to the sets of 'Housefull 4', is something that evidently didn’t happen on the sets or during the shoot; it took place off the sets and hence I have to state that it is beyond our capabilities. I would also like to clarify that Akshay Kumar and Ritesh Deshmukh had packed up way before this incident occurred. It was their personal matter and nothing related to our film shoot.”

READ |  #Metoo: Female Junior Artistes Allegedly Harassed, Molested On 'Housefull 4' Sets, Police Called On Akshay Kumar's Advice

Moreover, the head of the dancers, Raman Dave who is reportedly the head of the accusers further backed Mitra's statement and described the incident saying, “There was some argument between the boys which happened post pack up outside the set and the girl tried to save one of the males who was her friend, she tried to stop the fight but unfortunately it was a heated argument and during the course of this fight the boys happen to push her away to stay out of the fight. We have learned that the argument was between the dancers and Pawan Shetty (who is an outsider) and nothing to do with our film. I had left from the shoot but my set attendant Sandra was there on the set and even she has mentioned that nothing happened on the set. All the details reported about this incident failed to be true and it did not happen on our sets."

As per media reports, the victim narrated the ordeal to ANI saying that she was sitting with a colleague on the sets of the movie when two men, namely Pawan Shetty and Sagar along with four other men came and began misbehaving with them and touched her inappropriately.

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In a statement to ANI, she said, "I was sitting with a colleague when suddenly two men Pawan Shetty and Sagar, with four others came and tried to take away my colleague forcefully. They also threatened. When I tried to stop them, Shetty started pushing me and touched my private parts. When I started screaming, the production people and actors Akshay Kumar and Ritesh Deshmukh, came outside. They only gave the idea that we should call the police. The accused men ran away when they saw the production people and others, I've filed a molestation case. I want him behind bars."

Meanwhile, an FIR has already been launched against the accused, and further investigation is underway.