Two cases, two victims

Preity Zinta is in the news again. The actress has now filed an FIR against former boyfriend and co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab cricket team, Ness Wadia, alleging that he had molested and abused her during an IPL match on May 30, in Mumbai.

The details of the Preity-Ness case are disturbing. The star alleges that the businessman had, in full public view, abused her staff and then turned on her when she tried to intervene and calm things down.

“As my team was playing well and I did not want to create a scene in front of everyone, I left for my seat. But Ness came up to me and started screaming and hurling abuses at me in front of everyone,” claims Preity in her FIR.

She adds, “This did not end there as he (then) started abusing me on the ground and began insulting me in front of everyone, and used foul language by saying, ‘you f****ng b***h, you have shown your class, f**k you, f**k you’.”

Preity also alleges this is not the first time Ness has subjected her to such torment. “During the IPL auction of cricket players, which was in (Bengaluru), he insisted I sit beside him at the auction table, to which I replied ‘I will be siting beside the coach’. He got very angry. He used derogatory language and fought with me in public at the dinner.

The next day his bad behaviour continued during the auction and he screamed at me publicly by saying ‘who the hell do you think you are?’....‘I’m the Wadia Group and you are nobody’, and he also insulted me by saying other things, like ‘f*****g b***h, w***e’ etc, which really shocked me ... as I never expected him to behave like that at an event,” Preity adds in her FIR.
She also alleges that a verbal complaint she registered with the BCCI, elicited no response from the cricket body.

Preity on Saturday noon took to Twitter and Facebook, explaining her stand. “I may not be super wealthy and powerful, but I have truth by my side and I’ve worked very hard all my life. It saddens me that no one at work or around ever stood up for me in the past when I was abused and insulted publicly. This time I was left with no option,” she wrote, adding, “Sometimes we are so ashamed and humiliated that we fool ourselves to believe that no one saw what happened. Everyone always looks away. Ironically, what happened at Wankhade is being diluted. I’m sure witnesses will speak the truth and I trust police will do their job fairly and quickly... No woman likes to be involved in a controversy like this which makes her open and vulnerable for all to take a dig at. I’ve  worked for over 15 years in the film industry and have never been subject to such humiliating behaviour and for that I really want to thank all the men who worked with me.”

Meanwhile, Y S Sharmila Reddy opens up

It’s a cruel coincidence that here in Hyderabad, a woman of power, has been affected by another insidious problem. Y.S. Sharmila, in a note to the media, has finally opened up about rumours claiming she was having an affair with a Tollywood star.

She writes. “I’m having to write to you with a heavy heart out of a deep sense of pain not only to protect my honour and dignity, but also  because the said issue deals with the honour of every wife, every mother, every daughter and every sister.

“I have also been targeted. It is a shame that today’s politics has become so lowly, insensitive and unmindful towards a woman... I have been linked with a Telugu actor, Mr Prabhas..... somebody I have never seen, never met or even spoken to. A smear campaign against me in the cruelest manner was launched to tarnish my honour and dignity,"said Sharmila.

She continued. “Against all these odds, I refuse to be cowed down by fear of viral growth by this kind of slander. I refuse to be a silent victim of this unkind human fallacy. And I refuse to quietly bear this allegation uncondemned, as if it were true. It saddens me that the honour of the wife and mother in me is at stake this day,” she said.

Sharmila also hopes actor Prabhas will respond to the allegations. “I am certain that Mr Prabhas will also take cognizance of this act of cowardice and will vehemently condemn these hideous rumours. This demeaning unsubstantiated malicious intent against women should be stemmed. And the social and political rot should be addressed fearlessly and with a firm collective will... I will fight this battle and not lower my eyes or hang my head in shame,” she wrote.

Sharmila has also reached out to tech firms like Apple and Google, seeking their help to purge “offensive and derogatory” content and, to basically, stop the rumours from disseminating further.
To the authorities, she wrote, “I am hopeful that you will take immediate and stern action against all perpetrators of the said smear campaign and that you will not allow such  demagoguery go unchecked so as to prove and ensure that politics is not a “dirty place” and that no such political vendetta against innocent and ethical women will go unpunished.”

“Even while the investigation is underway, fresh acts are being committed by various persons. This is being done with active collusion and involvement of the persons-in-charge of such websites and domains. New websites are being created solely for the purpose of spreading the allegations. These continuing criminal acts are causing tremendous mental agony and anxiety to me and my family members,” she said.