Pakistani actress-singer Meesha Shafi accuses Ali Zafar of sexual harassment

Pakistani actress-singer Meesha Shafi has accused singer-actor Ali Zafar of sexually harrassing her. In a post shared on her Twitter, the actress-singer revealed that she had been 'physically' harassed by the singer, during her work with him. 

In the post, the 36-year-old singer wrote that she was speaking out to 'break the culture of silence' regarding these incidents in Pakistan.

She wrote, "I have been subjected to sexual harassment of a physical nature at the hands of a colleague from my industry: Ali Zafar. These incidences did not happen when I was young or just entering the industry. This happened to be despite the fact that I am an empowered, accomplished woman who is known for speaking her mind! This happened to me as a mother of two children."  Shafi also said that the incident had happened with her 'on more than one occasion'. 

The singer wrote that she was particularly hurt as Zafar was known to her over several years, and they had worked together. His act 'betrayed' her, she wrote, "Ali is someone I have known for many years and someone I shared the stage with. I feel betrayed by his behaviour and his attitude and I know that I am not alone." 

Zafar is quite well known to the Indian film industry, and made his debut in Hindi cinema in 2010 with the comedy, Tere Bin Laden. The actor-singer was last seen with actress Alia Bhatt in Gauri Shinde's film, Dear Zindagi (2016). 

Incidentally, Zafar was praised on social media in 2017 for stopping his concert mid-way to protect a girl being harassed in the crowd.