Saqib Saleem is the latest
one to share his traumatic memory where the actor faced sexual assault at the
age of 21 in a professional space. While talking to Hindustan Times, Saqib
said, “Yes, I don’t want to take names, but when I started out as an actor — I
was only 21 years old — there was a man who tried to assault me. He tried to
put his hand in my pants.”
The Race 3 actor recalled the shameful incident
and said the man he had met for a professional reason was gay and after his
disgusting move, Saqib hit him, not because of his sexuality but because of his
action, “I have gay friends, and they’re the most wonderful friends I’ve ever
made. I don’t blame the person’s sexuality in this matter; it is the person’s
mentality. When it happened with me, I whacked the guy and I told him to mind
his own f ****** g business, and I left. I was 21, and of course, it scarred
me, but I moved on. I’m sure that everyone’s different and an incident such as
this must affect different people differently.”
Saqib also said that he deeply feels for such
victims as he has grown up among women and have deep respect for them. “I’ve
also faced it. I can empathise with every girl who has been abused. It made me
disgusted, so I know what women are going through. Every sexual offender out
there should be punished in the severest manner.”
However, Huma Qureshi’s brother is also of the
opinion that a sensitive and strong movement like #MeToo should not be misused.
He says, “I kid you not when I say that I’ve read each and every story that has
come out on social media. Now, I think we can understand which one is right or
[is] a lie. What I’m really worried about is, these anonymous posts that are
coming out. These stories are heartbreaking and sexual offenders are horrible
people. But now the government needs to figure out a way. The country is in a
position where a Twitter trial is happening. You should definitely call out a
person on social media, but there’s also legal system in our country, and we
should go to court and take a legal recourse.” Saqib concluded.
Image Source: Cinespeaks , instagram/iamhumaq & instagram/saqibsaleem