Starlet Khushi Mukherjee slaps boy on TV
Drama unfolds as Khushi Mukherjee accuses minor of molestation
By : suresh kavirayani
Update: 2015-05-03 23:30 GMT
Khushi Mukherjee, who made a tiny debut in Telugu with Heart Attack directed by Puri Jagannadh, is in the news for a rather strange case of molestation that could snowball into a very public legal spat. On Friday, the actress complained to the Bhopal police that a hotel employee from the establishment she was staying at in Bhopal, touched her “inappropriately” while she was asleep in her room.
Later that day, a local TV channel brought the victim and accused together for a live TV show where Mukherjee slapped the minor even as cameras were running. The boy’s face was partially covered. The actress told DC her version of the story.
“It was around 2.30 am and the boy entered my room and touched me. When I shouted for help, the boy ran away and I immediately called the hotel management. But they came only after a long time,” says Khushi Mukherjee. She added that, she recognised the boy in the morning.
“In front of the whole staff, he said, he likes me and admitted his mistake,” says the actress. Later, however, the hotel management accused the actress of being drunk and claimed she was sleeping on the floor and that the boy was only trying to wake her up, so that she could move to the bed.
“It’s totally wrong. I asked hotel staff to show CCTV footage, which they still don’t want to reveal. When I started screaming, guests from neighbouring rooms came out and started supporting me. The boy has accepted his mistake in front of everybody,” insists the actress. She then called personnel from the film unit and the lot arrived at the hotel around 5.30 am on Friday.
“It was around 2.30 am and the boy entered my room and touched me. When I shouted for help, the boy ran away and I immediately called the hotel management. But they came only after a long time,” says Khushi Mukherjee. She added that, she recognised the boy in the morning. “In front of the whole staff, he said, he likes me and admitted his mistake,” says the actress. Later, however, the hotel management accused the actress of being drunk and claimed she was sleeping on the floor and that the boy was only trying to wake her up, so that she could move to the bed.
“It’s totally wrong. I asked hotel staff to show CCTV footage, which they still don’t want to reveal. When I started screaming, guests from neighbouring rooms came out and started supporting me. The boy has accepted his mistake in front of everybody,” insists the actress. She then called personnel from the film unit and the lot arrived at the hotel around 5.30 am on Friday. “The hotel management and police assured me that action would be taken against the boy but I discovered the police had let the boy go,” says the actress.
Mukherjee then decided to call “a media person” who she knew. “I went on an ETV show. I didn’t know that they would bring the boy too and when I entered the conference room, I saw the boy was sitting right there. He had accepted his mistake at the hotel, changed his version completely during the live programme.” She alleges his U-turn was because of pressure from the hotel management.
“They felt their reputation was at stake. When the boy said that he didn’t touch me, I got irritated and slapped him. Anyone in my place would have done the same,” she says. The actress has now lodged a complaint with the police. “I am also going to meet the National Commission for Women, to lodge my complaint. The hotel management is trying to cover up this whole episode, so they are accusing me. I am also consulting my advocate and I’m planning to file a defamation case against the hotel management,” adds the actress.
“I will let it go only if the general manager of the hotel is sacked and the management apologises to me in front of the media. Otherwise, I will take the matter further and will fight it out legally.”