In the ongoing series of #MeToo allegations, Kaneez Surekha has accused her fellow stand-up comedian Aditi Mittal of sexually harassing her while she was hosting a comedy show at Andheri Base two years ago.
Kaneez has alleged that Aditi kissed her without her consent and later tried to gaslight her by saying that such an incident never happened.
Kaneez took to Twitter and wrote on Twitter, “I need to tell my story as it happened to me. Two years ago, at a comedy show I was hosting at Andheri Base, in the presence of an audience of 100 and many comedians, Aditi Mittal walked up on stage and forcefully kissed me on my mouth out of the blue and put her tongue in my mouth, while I was still on stage and without my consent.”
She further added, “It left me humiliated, shocked and completely stripped of choice. Every person is entitled to choice and boundaries and she violated mine. While I mustered the courage to reach out to her a year ago, she first apologised but soon turned hostile towards me, leaving me confused and hurt.”
The ace comedian also explained why she was triggered to tell her story all-the-more now, because Aditi is now being lauded by many on social media for voicing her support towards the #MeToo movement raging across the country. She wrote, “Seeing her name all over Twitter as a champion of the cause has been triggering me immensely. Out of my belief that the opportunity to reform is the only way forward, yesterday, once again, I spoke to her through a mutual friend and requested her to come out with a public apology and save me the pain of having to reveal my identity.”
Aditi has simply refused to acknowledge the incident, and denied kissing Kaneez. “Despite having acknowledged it earlier, she denied kissing me on the mouth, gaslighted me and asked me to cross check. I have proof but I thought we believe the victim. Her actions yesterday have hurt me further and burdened me with the task of having to do this but I don’t want to be silent anymore. A public apology for violating my consent will be my closure,” Kaneez explained.
However, Kaneez has also requested the men who read her story, not to use this for their own agendas. She concluded her post by saying, “This is not retribution but for personal closure. Please respect this.”
Also read: #MeToo: Actress Sandhya Mridul accuses Alok Nath of sexual harassment