Actor Payal Ghosh has joined Union minister Ramdas Athawale-led Republican Party of India (A) in Mumbai and has been named as the vice president of its women’s wing, reports said on Monday. Ghosh had recently accused Anurag Kashyap of rape, a charge denied by the filmmaker.
Ghosh said she joined RPI(A) to do something for the country and thanked Athawale for supporting her in her fight against Kashyap, according to news agency PTI. The actor joined the party along with some others in the presence of Athawale.
Athawale said the entry of Ghosh and others into the party would strengthen it. “I told her RPI(A) is Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s party. It helps all sections of society, be it Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs, villagers, slum dwellers. The RPI will get a good face if you join the party. After I discussed this with her, she was ready to join the party,” Athawale said, according to PTI.
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The Union minister also claimed Kashyap, who has continuously denied the allegations levelled against him by Ghosh, would be arrested soon. The actor had filed a rape case against Kashyap in September and met Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari, demanding action against the filmmaker. She was accompanied by Athawale, a Rajya Sabha member. The two had also met Mumbai Police’s joint commissioner (Law and Order) Vishwas Nangare Patil, seeking security for the actor.
{{/usCountry}}The Union minister also claimed Kashyap, who has continuously denied the allegations levelled against him by Ghosh, would be arrested soon. The actor had filed a rape case against Kashyap in September and met Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari, demanding action against the filmmaker. She was accompanied by Athawale, a Rajya Sabha member. The two had also met Mumbai Police’s joint commissioner (Law and Order) Vishwas Nangare Patil, seeking security for the actor.
{{/usCountry}}Mumbai Police had booked Kashyap after the actor accused him of sexual misconduct. The First Information Report (FIR) was registered at Versova Police station on September 22 after the actor, along with her lawyer Nitin Satpute, approached the police. The FIR was registered under Sections 376 (I) (rape), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In her police complaint, Payal Ghosh alleged that Kashyap raped her at a place on Yari Road in Versova in 2013.