Bengali actor Payel Mukherjee on Friday night claimed she was harassed by a motorcyclist while driving her SUV in Kolkata. In a tearful video on social media, Mukherjee described how a man on a two-wheeler stopped in front of her vehicle in the Southern Avenue area of the city and demanded she exit the car.
This incident takes place amid the ongoing protest not only in the city but across the nation over the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
Payel Mukherjee in the video she posted, narrated the incident saying that the attacker smashed the car's window when she refused to get down from the vehicle. "As I refused to come out fearing for my safety, the man banged against the glass on my right side window and broke it into pieces injuring my hand," she said.
Mukherjee added that her hand was injured as well during the attack.
Further, a shaken Mukherjee questioned the safety of women in West Bengal, she said, "I don't know where we stand now. If a woman can be accosted and heckled in such a way in a crowded street at evening that exemplifies the real situation. And this happens amid rallies taken out all over the city on the issue of women's safety."
She also said, “I shudder to think what would have happened to me had this incident taken place in a deserted spot.”
Payel Mukherjee also shared another video showing locals gathered at the scene. In the video, she recorded the details of the miscreant's bike.
Local residents came to Payel Mukherjee's aid during the incident and helped the police as well.
The attacker has been detained by the police after Mukherjee filed a complaint against him.
The man, who was on the motorcycle, alleged that Payel's car had brushed against his bike, but he later apologized to the police for the confrontation.
Mukherjee, however, strongly denied his claim, asserting that no such contact between her car and his bike occurred.
BJP Condemns Attack, Blames TMC Govt
In a post on X, the Bharatiya Janata Party based in West Bengal condemned the attack on the actor and questioned CM Mamata Banerjee's governance and steps taken for women's safety in the state.
They shared the video of Mukherjee and wrote, "Now Bengali actress Payel Mukherjee goes live fearing for her life while being abused and attacked by a bike born assailant right in Kolkata's Southern Avenue. Wonder what State Home Minister Mamata Banerjee has just reduced Kolkata to a nightmare for women. And her adviser asking women to stay away from night duties."
Kolkata has been in the spot for lack of safety for women following the brutal rape and murder of female doctor in RG Kar Hospital and even though an accused was arrested within a day, people have questioned the role of city police and the state government in saving the influential people allegedly involved in the case.
