He sexually harassed me when I was 17: Model accuses famous director

Popular Bollywood director Sajid Khan was accused of sexual harassment by three women when the #MeToo movement gained momentum in the country after several women in the cine industry opened up about the abuse and casting couch experiences they had faced through the years.

Indian model Paula has now accused Sajid Khan of sexually harassing her when she was 17, under the pretense of providing her with an opportunity to work on his film ‘Housefull.’ In her post on Instagram which was captioned “Before democracy dies and there is no freedom of speech anymore I thought I should speak,” Paula wrote, “When #MeToo movement started, a lot of people spoke about Sajid Khan but I did not dare to because like every other actor who has no godfather and had to earn for a family I kept quiet. Now I don’t have my parents with me. I’m earning for myself. I can dare to tell that I have been harassed by Sajid Khan at the age of 17. He spoke dirty to me. He tried to touch me. He even told me to strip in front of him just to get a role in his upcoming Housefull movie. God knows with how many girls he has done this. I am coming out now not for any pity party. It’s just that I realised that had affected me so bad when I was a child and chose not to speak. But it’s high time no? These b******* should be behind bars not only for casting couch but also for manipulating and for stealing away your dreams. But I did not stop. But the wrong I did was not to speak about it.”

After three women accused and shamed Sajid Khan in 2018 for gross sexual misconduct, he was forced to step down from directing Housefull 4, starring Akshay Kumar, Kriti Sanon, and Pooja Hegde. Farhad Samhji replaced him as the director of the film. Akshay Kumar had mentioned in an interview later that he would work with Sajid Khan in the future if the director was acquitted of the charges levelled against him.