Nana Patekar almost gets clean chit from police; Tanushree Dutta accuses witnesses to be influenced

Nana Patekar, who was accused by Tanushree Dutta of sexual harassment on the sets of a film, has almost got a clean chit from the police as no eyewitness has confirmed the incident.

It has been reported that police have till date recorded statements from around 15 people, but none of them could confirm the allegations to be true. As reported, the witnesses either failed to recall the decade-old incident or the statements given do not match with Tanushree's allegations.

One of the witnesses is actress Daisy Shah, who was assistant to choreographer Ganesh Acharya on the sets of the said film. Even her statement did not match with Tanushree's version of the story.

Reacting to this, Tanushree claimed that the witnesses are mostly Nana's friends, and hence, there is very little possibility that they would speak against him.

"Who are these 15 witnesses? Are they from my side or Nana's side? They are Nana's friends, then why will they corroborate my story. I don't need witnesses to prove that I was harassed. The truth is sometimes difficult to prove in a court of law when it comes to harassment. The cops have been so slow with the probe. Most of the people from whom they are taking statements are the ones who watched me getting harassed and did nothing to support me. So why will they now speak in my support? The mentality of people is such that they will lie to protect such criminals and prove the woman wrong," she told Mid-Day.

The pioneer of #MeToo movement in India further accused police of running a slow investigation and also claimed that Nana's supporters have been threatening people who wanted to speak in support of the actress.

"Some of the witnesses who wish to give statements in support of my story are receiving threat calls from Nana's people. We have faced a lot of difficulty in convincing witnesses to give their statements, as they are scared. So the people who know the truth are being hounded and replaced by fake witnesses who are speaking lies. But I still have faith that all the accused will be punished because I am fighting this battle not for myself but for those who suffer silently every day," she added.

Tanushree had accused Nana and Ganesh Acharya of sexual harassment on the sets of Horn Ok Pleassss, saying that the two tried to force her to do an intimate dance step with the veteran actor. Nana and Ganesh had vehemently denied the allegations.