Comedian Kaneez Surka on Wednesday, 10 October, accused her fellow comedian Aditi Mittal of forcefully kissing her on stage two years back.
Amid the storm of #MeToo accounts by survivors, this is the latest allegation that has surfaced. Surka posted her account on Twitter, and it was retweeted by Aditi Mittal. The Quint tried reaching out to Mittal, but has not received any response yet.
Aditi Mittal Apologises
Aditi responded to Kaneez’s allegations on Wednesday evening and said that it wasn’t a forceful kiss but a “peck on Kaneez’s lips”.
While issuing her apology, Aditi added that her intentions were not sexual in nature.
Here is the Full Text of Surka’s Allegations
“I need to tell my story as it happened to me.
Two years ago, at a comedy show I was hosting at Andheri Base, in the presence of an audience of 100 and many comedians, Aditi Mittal walked up on stage and forcefully kissed me on my mouth out of the blue and put her tongue in my mouth, while I was still on stage and without my consent.
It left me humiliated, shocked and completely stripped of choice. Every person is entitled to choice and boundaries and she violated mine. 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.
Seeing her name all over Twitter as a champion of the cause has been triggering me 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 my identity.
Despite having acknowledged it earlier, she denied kissing me on the mouth, gaslighted me and asked to cross check. I have proof but I thought we believe the victim. Her actions yesterday have hurt me further and burdened me with the task of having to do this but I don’t want to be silent anymore. A public apology for violating my consent will be my closure.
To the men reading this, this is not about you or an opportunity for you to use this for your own agendas. This is not retribution but for personal closure. Please respect this.”
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