Chennai based actor alleges a journalist sexually harassed her after her husband died
Highlights
- Tamil actor alleges senior journalist of sexually harassing her
- She said Prakash M Swamy harassed her after her husband's death
- "Never visited her house nor did I sexually harass her," he said
A 42-year-old popular actor in Tamil Nadu has gone live on Facebook to expose and seek action against a senior journalist, who she claims has been sexually harassing her over the last few years.
In her eight-minute video, which has gone viral, the actor narrates the nightmare she went through. In tears, the Chennai based actor alleged, Prakash M Swamy targeted her after the death of her husband in Hong Kong, in the pretext of helping her in sorting an issue with her son's passport. Speaking to NDTV, she said, "He sat next to me at my home and misbehaved. I had to literally show him the door".
The harassment continued via phone and internet, she claimed. "He started sending me vulgar WhatsApp messages and threatened to defame me. He spread false stories that I killed my husband, who died of a massive heart attack. He even got a cheap baseless story on me published in a local magazine," alleged the actor.
Mr Swamy, she alleged, has harassed many women. "He often shows pictures of him with top leaders and ministers. People believe he can get things done. He manipulates. He has to be punished," said the actor.
The actor showed a Community Service Register (CSR) given by the police after receiving her complaint against Mr Swamy. "The police refused to file a First Investigation Report or FIR. They've just issued a CSR mentioning it's a complaint of sexual harassment," the actor alleged.
When NDTV contacted the officer at the all women police station she had approached, the officer said, "We had forwarded it to the cyber wing as it involved mobile phone and internet." However, the officer-in-charge of the cyber wing did not respond to calls".
Another woman who had responded to the actor's Facebook post told NDTV, "He had forced me to come to a service apartment. I sensed something wrong when I saw cameras installed inside the flat and I fled the place. He later threatened to get my daughter sacked from her job".
Mr Swamy, who was based in the United States for a long time denied the allegations. Confirming that he did try to help the actor over a passport issue, he said, "I never visited her house nor did I sexually harass her. Even for argument's sake had I visited her, why did she keep quiet for so long?"
The journalist, who was once sent to jail for a month in connection with the Sahara case, describes himself on his Facebook page as "Diplomatic Correspondent to United Nations", "Judge of Emmy Awards" and "President of America Tamil Sangam".