Don't know validity of accusations, no proof: Emraan Hashmi on MeToo allegations against Why Cheat India director Soumik Sen

By Bollywood Reporter

on January 15, 2019

Filmmaker Soumik Sen, who directed Emraan Hashmi in his new film Why Cheat India, was accused of sexual misconduct by three women in the wake of the MeToo movement in India but the actor said that a proper process must be followed in investigating the validity of the allegations before taking any step.

"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 (Sen) and he excused himself from the promotions," Emraan told a news agency.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnb1UEWh3Y9/?utm_source=ig_embed

Furthermore, Emraan also said that his team hasn’t denied the allegations. If Soumik has wronged the women, the court should decide the next course of action but social media cannot be turned into a courtroom for this matter.

"We have not denied those allegations... If Soumik has done something, he should be taken to task. I can't play judge and decide on a verdict. The courts have to draw out a process, which has not been done so far. Twitter cannot be a courtroom," Emraan added.

Moreover, Emraan added that team Why Cheat India had investigated the matter after allegations surfaced against the director in order to check whether Soumik had behaved inappropriately on the sets of the film but didn’t find any proof as such.

[caption id="attachment_114892" align="aligncenter" width="647"] File photo of Emraan Hashmi[/caption]

"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," Emraan said.

Why Cheat India, based on the education system, is scheduled to release on January 18. The film marks Emraan's debut as a producer.