Model accuses Punjabi director Pankaj Batra of misbehaving with her

When the #MeToo movement came to India in 2018, many women came out to share their stories against well-known people from the film industry. In 2020, women continue to share their horror stories of dealing with harassment and sexual assault from colleagues or people in powerful positions at their workplace.

In a recent #MeToo story, an aspiring model has accused Punjabi film director Pankaj Batra of misbehaving with her. The model narrated the story to her friend, who then started an exclusive page on Instagram sharing about the awful ordeal her friend faced. The first post on the page was a picture of Pankaj Batra, the post read ”he has made some Punjabi movies. He is def not as decent as he comes across. Girls should know about this pervert. What he did with one of my female friends is pretty disturbing” (sic).

She then shared a detailed post on the event which shook her friend. The post said ”He first contacted her through FB, asked her to meet in a cafe, he said its ‘something’ he wanted to talk about. My friend thought maybe its work so she met him but he didn’t talk about work. Then this guys started messaging her asking her to meet at some private place because according to him public place are too noisy to take about serious matter and he hates them. My friend didn’t agree, and she suggested to meet at a quiet cafe like wood inn in oshiwara but he was not ready. So he said he has got a nice place and sent the address of his house in Yamuna Nagar. She unwillingly went to his house. He forced her to have wine which she flatly refused” (sic).

She then mentioned that Pankaj, touched her hand and asked her to get physical with him. Shocked, she then got up and left, only to have Pankaj request her to leave slowly so that nobody notices her. The friend questioned the character of this director who has made Punjabi films with a notable star such as Diljit Dosanjh. She further urged that there should be legal action for such behaviour in the film industry without revealing the victim’s identity.

View this post on Instagram

Pankaj Batra is a pervert director . What he did to one of my female friends is Shocking. he called her to his house in pretext of talking about work , He then tried to force her to drink alcohol and molest her . He first contacted her through FB , Asked her to meet in a cafe , he said its 'something' he wanted to talk about . My friend thought may be its work . so she met him but he dint talk about any kind of work or anything. Next what happened depressed her for days. Finally she told me what she went through in that meeting. Please swipe to know her ordeal . She couldn't raise her voice at that point because she was scared of social stigma and her career. This guy totally disturbed her . He then messaged her saying that 'Since she said NO to him , How can he work with her? ' . We have all the evidences to prove the act of this predator. Shame on such filmmakers. @iampankajbatra @punjabifilmfederation @punjabifilmyhits @_mumbaimirror @timesofindia @preetajainbatra @diljitdosanjh @filmfare @kamaalrkhan @krkboxoffice @punjabi_news_online @ptcpunjabifilmawards #metoo

A post shared by Pankaj Batra Director (@my.metoo.story) on Sep 18, 2020 at 2:46am PDT

Will director Pankaj Batra respond to the accusation? Watch this space to know more.