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Fatima Sana Shaikh reveals she was physically assaulted by a man after confronting him for inappropriate touch. “He hit me so hard, I was fully down,” she says.
Fatima Sana Shaikh recalls being assaulted by a man in public after she hit him for touching her inappropriately.
Actress Fatima Sana Shaikh has opened up about a deeply traumatic incident where she was physically assaulted by a man she tried to confront for inappropriately touching her in public. In a recent conversation with Hauterrfly, the actress recounted the moment that changed how she responds to such situations even today.
“Once, a man had touched me inappropriately, and I hit him. But he hit me back so hard, that I was fully down,” Fatima revealed. “I only hit him because he touched me, but that pissed him off and he hit me to the point that I fell.”
The shocking episode made her rethink how to handle such encounters. “After that incident, I got a little more cautious. I realised that we also have to check how to react in such situations,” she said, before adding, “But look at the irony… something wrong is happening with us, and we only have to think how to react to it.”
Fatima also shared another unsettling experience from the recent past—this time during the COVID-19 lockdown, and right in the heart of Mumbai.
“During the COVID-19 lockdown, I was riding my bicycle in Mumbai wearing a mask, and there was this tempo driver who kept honking and making weird sounds at me. And till the time I didn’t take a turn in my lane, he kept following me,” she shared.
Reflecting on the broader reality of gender-based harassment, Fatima stated with clarity: “You only have to be a girl for it.”
The actress’s candid recollections speak to the pervasive nature of everyday harassment and the complex emotions that survivors are forced to navigate—even after defending themselves.
On the work front, Fatima was recently seen in Metro…In Dino, directed by Anurag Basu and paired opposite Ali Fazal. The film has been praised by audiences and critics alike for its emotional depth and storytelling.
Her latest film, Aap Jaisa Koi, released on Netflix this Friday. Co-starring R. Madhavan, it tells a mature love story between two middle-aged individuals, where the woman stands up for herself within a conservative family while also fighting for her love.
Yatamanyu Narain is a Sub-Editor at News18.com with a passion for all things entertainment. Whether he’s breaking the latest Bollywood news or chatting with rising stars in the OTT world, he’s always on the hun…Read More
Yatamanyu Narain is a Sub-Editor at News18.com with a passion for all things entertainment. Whether he’s breaking the latest Bollywood news or chatting with rising stars in the OTT world, he’s always on the hun… Read More
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