The Ali Zafar vs. Meesha Shafi case just got more complicated…
On Friday, Meesha had created a sensation on Twitter when she revealed, “I have been subjected to sexual harassment of a physical nature at the hands of a colleague from my industry: Ali Zafar. These incidences did not happen when I was young or just entering the industry. This happened to be despite the fact that I am an empowered, accomplished woman who is known for speaking her mind! This happened to me as a mother of two children.”
Zafar had responded to the allegations saying, “I categorically deny any and all claims of harassment lodged against me by Ms Shafi. I intend to take this through the courts of law and to address this professionally and seriously rather than to lodge any allegations here, contesting personal vendetta on social media and in turn disrespecting the movement, my family, the industry and fans. Ultimately, I am a strong believer that the truth, always prevails.”
[embed]https://twitter.com/AliZafarsays/status/986969628869046272[/embed]
Now Ali Zafar is demanding a public apology from Meesha Shafi, threatening to file a defamation suit of Rs.100 crore against her under Pakistan’s Defamation Ordinance.The notice seeks “an apology using the same social media platform of Twitter proclaiming our client’s innocence.” It goes on to say, “However, if you fail to delete the tweet and issue an apology based on Twitter within 14 days of receipt of the legal notice, we have definite instructions from our client to seek remedy for redressal of his grievance and claim damages to the tune of at least Rs.100 crores.”
While two women who have worked with Zafar in the past spoke in his defence, others raised more allegations. A make-up artiste wrote in to say that in the many years she has known Ali, “he has on several occasions crossed boundaries of what is appropriate behaviour between friends.”
All eyes are now trained on Meesha’s response to Zafar’s demand…
