Huma Qureshi backs Anurag Kashyap amid #MeToo allegations, issues angry 'final response'

Bollywood actor Huma Qureshi on Twitter posted a long note clarifying her stance and expressing anger over being dragged into the sexual harassment allegations by Bengali actor Payal Ghosh against filmmaker Anurag Kashyap earlier last week. Ghosh appeared in an interview with a regional news channel and revealed sensational details of her encounter with the Gangs Of Wasseypur director alleging that he forced himself on her allegedly citing "benefits" for her future in the film industry. In her interview, she also claimed that Kashyap took names of actors including Richa Chadha, Mahie Gill and Huma Qureshi and said that he can ask favours from the actors at his beck and call.

Huma, who made her debut in Bollywood with Kashyap's film Gangs Of Wasseypur, spoke in support of the director as she issued a statement on Twitter.

She wrote, "In my personal experience and to my knowledge he has neither misbehaved with me or anyone else. However, anyone who claims to be abused must report it to the authorities, the police and the judiciary."

The actor further expressed her anger over being dragged into the matter and claimed that she chose to remain silent to avoid conjecture. Her statement read, "I feel really angry at being dragged into this mess. I feel angry not just for myself but also every woman whose years of hard work and struggle get reduced to such baseless conjecture and allegations in their workplace. Please let's refrain from this narrative."

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On Saturday, Payal Ghosh took to Twitter and wrote that the Anurag Kashyap was sexually inappropriate towards her. The 30-year-old actor tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in her tweet, requesting him to take action against Kashyap. In a video released to ABN Telugu, Ghosh claimed that the incident happened in 2014-2015. Dismissing the allegations, Kashyap called Ghosh's claim an attempt to "silence" him. "(But) while shutting me up, you lied so much that you dragged other women also in it. Please maintain some dignity madam. All I will say is that all your allegations are baseless," Kashyap, tweeted.

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