Pakistani actress accuses Ali Zafar of sexual harassment

Pakistani singer Meesha Shafi on Thursday accused actor-singer Ali Zafar of sexual harassment.

Pakistani singer and actress Meesha Shafi took to the micro-blogging site and revealed that she was sexually harassed by Ali Zafar more than one occasion and he harassed her despite knowing that she's a mother of two children.

She captioned her post as saying, "Sharing this because I believe that by speaking out about my own experience of sexual harassment, I will break the culture of silence that permeates through our society. It is not easy to speak out.. but it is harder to stay silent. My conscience will not allow it anymore #MeToo."

In her statement posted on Twitter, she wrote, "As a woman, a public figure and a mother, I have always felt strongly about using my voice to encourage and support our youth who look up to me especially girls, who dream of carving their own path in Pakistan."

"Despite having a voice, there are some issues that are very difficult to speak about as a woman, especially sexual harassment."
"If this can happen to someone like me, an established artist, then it can happen to any young woman hoping to break into the industry and that concerns me gravely."

She added, "I have been subjected, on more than one occasion, to sexual harassment of a physical nature at the hands of a colleague from my industry: Ali Zafar. These incidences did not happen when I was young, or just entering the industry. This happened to me despite the fact that I am an empowered, accomplished woman who is known for speaking her mind! This happened to me as a mother of two children."

" It has been an extremely traumatic experience for me and my family. Ali is someone I have known for many years and someone who I have shared the stage with. I feel betrayed by his behaviour and his attitude and I know that I am not alone."

"Today I am breaking this culture of silence and I hope that by doing that I am setting an example for young women in my country to do the same. We only have our voices and the time has come to use them."

This revelation by Meesha comes in the wake of the MeToo campaign that had eclipsed the Academy Awards event this year.