6 Women Who Accused Sajid Khan of Sexual Harassment: From Mandana Karimi, Saloni Chopra to Rachel White

In 2018, actress Tanushree Dutta sparked a new wave of MeToo movement after she accused  Nana Patekar of sexually harassing her on the sets of the 2009 film Horn 'Ok' Pleassss. Her disclosure paved the way for several other women to speak against their sexual predators and share their stories in public. While the MeToo movement started gaining mileage in all walks of life, the Bollywood industry also came under the scanner and big names like Vivek Agnihotri, Vikas Bahl, Sajid Khan, Alok Nath, Anu Malik among others came to light, who were accused by several women of sexual harassment.

These names came as a big surprise to everyone but filmmaker Sajid Khan is one such person whose name is repeatedly taken by women in the MeToo movement. In the last two years, over 6 women have accused the director of sexual misconduct and cut to today in September 2020, an Indian model Dimple Paula, in a recent post, accused Khan of sexually harassing her at the age of 17 under the pretence of giving her work.

Have a look at the 6 women who accused Sajid Khan in the MeToo movement:

1)Saloni Chopra

In 2018, actor Saloni Chopra who worked as an assistant director for Sajid Khan had shared her nightmarish experience of sexual abuse while working with the filmmaker in 2011. Saloni had shared that it all started with Khan asking her uncomfortable questions during the interview and after she got the job, he would call her at late hours and asked her to send bikini pictures of herself so he could have a look if she ever decides to be an actor.

She had alleged that Sajid used to talk about his genitals and asked her to touch it. Further, she also recalled an incident when he asked her to lift a skirt of a girl who was playing a role in his film. 

Read full story here:

2.Rachel White

Soon after Saloni braved to share her story of sexual abuse, actor Rachel White had also recounted a similar incident with Sajid Khan when the director called her at his house for the film Humshakals. According to Rachel, Sajid has reassured her that her mother would be around but when she reached his house, it was all empty.

In a series of tweets, Rachel had accused Sajid of sexual misconduct. “After that he asks me to strip for him because there were scenes in a bikini and he needed to see how I looked. I replied saying, ‘There are pics of me in bikinis sent to you, I think that should good for you.’ And when he insisted I said ‘I’m ready to parade your office in a bikini, not at home,’” Rachel shared.

The actress had further added how Khan asked her to seduce him in 5 minutes to get the role.

Check her tweets here:

3. Journalist Karishma Upadhyay

Apart from Saloni and Rachel, a freelance Bollywood journalist Karisma Upadhyay had also recounted a horrifying experience of interviewing Sajid Khan in the early 2000s. She said that Sajid not only indulged in inappropriate talk but also misbehaved with her during the interview.

As shared by Karishma, Sajid talked about how large his penis was and that he knew how to satisfy a woman. At one point, he walked out of the room to show Karishma a DVD.

“When he returned, his penis was out. I got up to leave immediately only to find him blocking the way out. And, he forced his tongue down my throat. I pushed him away and ran out,” Karishma wrote in a note she shared on Twitter.

Read her note here:

4. Simran Suri

More and more women coming out to publicly shame their abusers gave support to others to come forward and expose the wrongdoings that happened to them. After Rachel White, actor Simran Suri had accused director Sajid Khan of sexual harassment, becoming the fourth woman to level #MeToo allegations against the filmmaker.

“I kept thinking all these years @whitespeaking to talk about this a## @SimplySajidK and what stopped me was that nobody would listen. He did exactly the same with me while he was casting for Himmatwala. Called me to his juju house and asked me to strip,” Simran had revealed on Twitter.

Check her tweet here: 

5. Mandana Karimi

Iranian model and actress Mandana Karimi had also faced sexual harassment by Sajid Khan. In an interview in 2018, she had alleged that the director made inappropriate remarks when she visited his office to discuss a role in his 2014 film Humshakals.

Mandana had alleged that Sajid asked her to remove her clothes as he wanted to see her body. "I was in talks for Sajid Khan's Humshakals at the casting stage. My manager and I visited his office. After meeting producer Vashu Bhagnani, I was in a room with Sajid, when he said, 'Lovely pictures but you need to remove your clothes. If I like what I see, you might get the part,'" Mandana had shared.

Watch video: 

6.Marina Kuwar

In 2018, Marina Kunwar came out publicly during an interview with Aaj Tak, where she accused Bhushan Kumar and Sajid Khan of sexually harassing her. At that time, it was alleged that the media did not cover the case and her story was thrown under the carpet.

Marina had said in the interview:  “I feel bad saying on media like how Sajid showed me his private part and Bhushan Kumar also didn’t wait a second and just undressed himself. Is a woman created just for this? To be used. And no one believes us.”

Watch the interview here: