"Happened Amid Protests Over Women's Safety": Actor Attacked In Kolkata

Actor Payel Mukherjee today alleged that she was attacked by a biker after a "minor accident" on a Kolkata road. Taking to her official social media accounts, she shared a video while sitting in the damaged car and said that a man stopped his two-wheeler before her on Southern Avenue after a "minor accident", and asked her to come out of the vehicle. The police said it was a “road traffic accident” and the accused person had been arrested. 

"As I refused to come out fearing for my safety, the man banged against the glass on my right side window and broke it into pieces injuring my hand," Ms Mukherjee said while sobbing in the video.

According to the news agency PTI, the man said that Payel's car grazed past his bike and that he apologised to the police for the incident. 

"I don't know where we stand now. If a woman can be accosted and heckled in such a way in a crowded street in the evening, then that exemplifies the real situation. And this happens amid rallies taken out all over the city on the issue of women's safety," the actor, who is also a known face in the south film industry, said in the video in Bangla.

She also said that there was no minimum safety for women in Kolkata despite the situation right now.

"I shudder to think what would have happened to me had this incident taken place in a deserted spot," Ms Banerjee added.

In another video, she showed the bike involved in the accident and asked "if anyone can see any damage".

The police responded to her social media post and said that they "swiftly intervened" and arrested the accused.

"Today evening a renowned Bengali actress was seen live-streaming an incident of RTA (road traffic accident) and hooliganism at Southern Avenue on social media. The on-duty police of Tollygunge police station swiftly intervened and the accused person had been arrested from the spot," a senior police official said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The incident comes at a time when the country is witnessing massive protests over the rape and murder of a postgraduate medical trainee at the state-run RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata.

Healthcare professionals across the country ceased work after the body of the medic, a junior doctor, was found in a seminar room of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9.