After witnessing several sexual misconduct stories from the B-town, here’s one from the television world. Popular TV actress Sonal Vengurlekar has accused casting director and photographer Raja Bajaj of sexual harassment.
Recently while talking to Bombay Times, the actress has opened up about the incident.
This was when I had started giving auditions and chanced upon an opportunity on a casting website. I called on the number mentioned on the site and was told by the person to come for an audition in Borivali. The man happened to be TV actress Sheena Bajaj's father, Raja Bajaj. I gave the audition, but couldn't deliver the dialogues well since I was untrained. He told me that I have a good face, but needed to have a better understanding of the profession and suggested that I assist him on a shoot”, asserted Sonal.
Elaborating her experience of the photo-shoot she added,
After some time, he told me to try out a couple of outfits, though I wondered why he asked me to try out those outfits when the shoot was with another model. He had a bottle of cream in his hand and told me to apply it on my breasts before wearing those, as that would help in giving them a proper shape. Much to my horror, he came forward and applied the cream on my breasts forcibly. I got scared and ran away. What made the situation even scarier was that no one from my family was with me.”
Remembering the petrifying day she further mentioned,
Later in the evening, when I went back to my room, from where I could see Raja drinking and chatting with the resort manager. He came to my room and said that 'Aapko main tantrik vidya sikhaunga, jisse aap raaton raat superstar bann jaogi. You have to remove your clothes and sit naked in front of me and repeat the mantra I chant. I snubbed him and said that I didn't want to learn anything. He, then, stepped forward and tried to forcibly remove my clothes. I somehow managed to get out of the room and went straight to the model and her mother, who were in the adjoining room. Sometime later, the resort manager informed us that he had fled the scene without his belongings.”
Sonal Vengurlekar had filed a complaint at Kasturba Marg police station back in 2012 against Raja Bajaj. The co-model and her mother had also recorded their statements with the police then.
However denying all the allegations made by Sonal, the casting director Bajaj averred,
Sonal came to our house on March 7 and even demanded money. She asked for Rs. 3 lakh and came down to Rs. 1.5 lakh. When we refused, she mocked us by saying that we had made tall claims, but didn't have the money to pay her.”
Later, learning about all the allegations, actress Sheena Bajaj (Raja Bajaj’s daughter) said that Sonal is blackmailing her father. While talking to India Forums she mentioned,
It’s a false allegation, absolutely false. Sonal is just blackmailing my father for money. My point is that if something wrong happened to you, why you will demand money. She had asked for 3 Lakh and then claimed 1.5 Lakh. And when Dad refused to give money and told her to complain, she then went to the police station. Still, she is asking for money and telling us that she will withdraw the case if we give her money,” further adding that, “I agree with this movement. Almost 80% of the cases are right. But what about the rest 20% of people who just do this to gain fame? And when the incident happened nobody saw there were a lot of people. All of them heard incident no one saw it.”
The pool of #MeToo cases is just expanding by depicting some terrifying stories from the entertainment industry.
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