As the #MeToo movement continues to spread wider and across several industries in the country, television actor Helen Fonseca’s example proves that sometimes, just calling out the culprit doesn’t work. The Udaan actor had filed a police complaint in 2015 against her co-star from the show, Sai Ballal, for allegedly sending lewd texts to her. However, she says the complaint didn’t result in anything.

In an interview to Mid-Day, Helen said that while Sai was arrested after her complaint, he was let out on bail the same day. “It was a non-bailable offence but he got bail that very day,” she said. She added that the show’s producers also didn’t help her when she confided in them. “Gurudev (Bhalla, executive producer on the show) could have spoken to both of us, but he simply messaged, ‘You are adults. If you want to pursue this, talk to the governing bodies’,” she said.

Helen says she was made to wait all day on set but was told at the end of the day that they would not shoot with her. She was also replaced by another actor.

Fonseca then approached Cine & TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA) but did not get a satisfactory response. “I had faith in CINTAA, and my director and producer, I thought they would help me get justice. But it’s sad that no one [from CINTAA] even bothered to call us for a meeting,” she said.

Sai contacted Helen on WhatsApp in April 2015 and started sending her obscene videos, including a few pornographic clips.When she did not respond, Ballal allegedly asked her if she liked them and also told her to visit his house. The police said Sai then forced her to get into a physical relationship with him.

The police booked Ballal and Abhishek Agarwal (creative head) and Bharat Choksi (production head) under sections 354 (A) (D) and 109 of the Indian Penal Code in 2015. The police also pressed charges under the Information Technology Act against them.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

First Published: Oct 25, 2018 13:53 IST