#MeToo: lady comic accuses Aditi Mittal

IN BRIEF:

#MeToo: lady comic accuses Aditi Mittal

Mrityunjay Bose, DH News Service, Mumbai,

Oct 10 2018, 21:36pm ist
updated: Oct 11 2018, 02:04am ist

The raging MeToo campaign took a new dimension on Wednesday, when South African artist and comedian Kaneez Surka accused stand-up comedian Aditi Mittal, who had appeared in AIB collective, of forcibly kissing her.

MeToo is not only about women who have been sexually assaulted but it includes sexual assault of all kinds irrespective of gender.

Surka posted details on Twitter but Mittal has not reacted so far.

"Two years ago at a comedy show I was hosting in Andheri Base, in the presence of an audience of 100 and many comedians, Aditi Mittal walked up on stage and forcibly kissed me on my mouth out of the blue and put her tongue in my mouth while I was still on stage without my consent," she said in the post.

"It left me humiliated, shocked and completely stripped of choice," Surka said, adding: "When I mustered the courage to reach out to her a year ago, she first apologised but soon turned hostile towards me, leaving me confused and hurt."

She said that seeing Aditi's name as champion of the cause has been triggering her immensely.

"Out of my belief that the opportunity to reform is the only way forward, yesterday, once again, I spoke to her through a mutual friend and requested her to come out with a public apology and save me the pain of having to reveal her identity. Despite having acknowledged it earlier, she denied kissing me on my mouth, gaslighted me and asked me to cross check. I have proof but I thought we believe the victim. Her actions yesterday have further burdened me with the task of having to do this but I don't want to be silent anymore," she wrote on the microblogging site.

South African artist and comedian Kaneez Surka