Actress Helen Fonseca, who is currently seen as Saroj in Colors’ show Udann claimed that she is been sexually harassed by her co-star Sai Ballal. The accused has been identified as Sai Ballal, who plays Kamalnarayan Rajvanshi in Udaan. According to the police, the victim was first allegedly harassed by Ballal in April.
An officer from the Borivali police station said: “Ballal started sending her pornographic and objectionable videos on her mobile phone through WhatsApp and started harassing her on the sets. He made sexual advances towards her and also molested her several times. Fed up, the victim approached her superiors in the production house. She alleged that they did not pay heed to her complaint and when she persisted with her complaints, they removed her from the show.”
TV actor Sai Ballal arrested yesterday on sexual molestation charges, to be produced in a Mumbai court today
— ANI (@ANI_news) July 16, 2015
The actress approached Cine thrown and TV Artists Association [CINAA] after being thrown away by Ballal. She alleged that she was away because Ballal enjoyed significant clout in the production house. So she was removed and became jobless. “CINTAA conducted a probe into the matter and concluded that it is a criminal matter,” said Senior Inspector Gunaji Sawant of the Borivali police station.
“The probe recommended that the victim make a complaint to the police, following which she lodged a complaint in the Borivali police station on Wednesday. Acting on her allegations, the police registered an FIR under various sections of the IPC and the Information Technology Act. Ballal was arrested in the evening and will be produced in the court on Thursday.”
Allegedly, it started off with Balal sending her sleazy text messages, which slowly graduated to porn videos. After much prodding, Helen revealed, “Sai would often send messages asking if I wanted to kiss him apart from sexually explicit videos. Initially, I handled it politely. But when things came to a head, I asked him to back off.”
“I even complained to the production house, and a day later, I was relegated to an insignificant role in the show. I was expecting support from the cast and the crew, but that didn’t happen. The show is a closed chapter for me,” adds the actress, who is a principal of a pre-school and has featured in TV shows like CID and Savdhaan India.
However, when contacted Balal, “It’s not true. Please come to the set to see how clean I am.” Ballal Replied.
Case has been filed against Ballal under Section 354-A (sexual harassment) and 354-B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe her) of the IPC and section 67-A of the IT Act. Choksi and Aggarwal also arrested under Section 109 of the IPC for abetment.
“We have recovered some objectionable videos sent on the victims’ mobile phone and further investigation into the matter is on,” said another police officer.