Actor Emraan Hashmi, whose film Why Cheat India director Soumik Sen has been accused of sexual misconduct by several women, told news agency PTI that a "due process must be followed to investigate" the cases. Soumik Sen was named by three women of sexually inappropriate behaviour. He is not a part of Why Cheat India promotions now. Actor Nana Patekar, filmmakers Sajid Khan and Vikas Bahl were also outed in the #MeToo movement, after which, they were asked to quit the films they were associated with.Of the allegations against Soumik Sen, Emraan Hashmi told PTI, "There should be a due process. I can't have this high-handed authority on a set and say, 'You're out of my film and three women have accused you of this'. I don't know the validity of the accusations."
"I've not spoken to the women personally. They have not gone to the judicial system and had the due process. The producers spoke to him (Soumik Sen) and he excused himself from the promotions," Emraan added.
Why Cheat India is the first film of Emraan Hashmi's production house. It is jointly produced by Bhushan Kumar, Atul Kasbekar and Emraan's wife Parveen. Besides directing Why Cheat India, Soumik Sen has also written it.
Emraan Hashmi also said that when the news was reported, team Why Cheat India had investigated the matter on the sets, but nothing was reported.
"The next question to be asked was the authenticity of the allegations. When you have names thrown on social media, it could be malicious. Not that I am defending Soumik, but there's no due process here, no proof. Sometimes there could be malicious intent. We kept it to the point that he has excused himself from the film promotions. It's a step where we probably have done our bit," he said.
Why Cheat India is slated to release on January 18.
Meanwhile, filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani was also named in the #MeToo by an anonymous woman, who reportedly worked for his last-released film Sanju. The woman has alleged that Mr Hirani abused her over a period of six months, which he categorically denied.
"I was completely shocked when these allegations were brought to my notice about two months ago. I had suggested immediately that it is essential to take this matter to any committee or any legal body. The complainant has chosen to go to the media instead. I want to very strongly state that this is a false, malicious and mischievous story being spread with the sole intention of destroying my reputation," the filmmaker said in a statement.
(With PTI inputs)
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