Fatima Sana Shaikh reveals a man once punched her after she slapped him for harassment

'Dangal' actor recalls her father chasing the harasser down the street later

Bollywood actor Fatima Sana Shaikh recently opened up about a time she was harassed, because of which, when she slapped the man to avert him from staring, he punched her back.

In a recent interview, while speaking about her family and how they have been her biggest support, Shaikh said her father once chased a man who punched her. The incident took place when the actor was on her way back from the gym, reported Hindustan Times.

The Dangal actor said she noticed the man staring at her and addressed him. "Main raste mein jaa rahi thi gym ke baad. Ek ladka aaya aur wo ghoor raha tha. Toh maine bola, 'Kya ghoor raha hai?' He said, 'Ghoorunga, meri marzi.' I said, 'Maar khaana hai?' He said, 'Maar' (I was on my way back from the gym when I noticed a man staring at me. I confronted him and asked why he was staring. He said 'It is my wish'. I asked him if he wanted a slap. He replied, 'Slap me')," Sheikh told the leading daily.

Before their verbal argument could subside, Shaikh slapped the man, who then punched her back.

"I slapped him, he punched me. I blacked out. Of course, I called my father first. He came with two to three other men. You know how fathers are. That man ran into a street. My father, accompanied by my brother and their friends asked me, 'Kaun tha jo meri beti ko haath lagaya?' (Who dare touch my daughter?)," she recalled.

Prior to starring in Dangal, Shaikh was a child actor who had taken a break before returning to Bollywood with Salman Khan’s film. Last year, while speaking about her initial days in the industry, Shaikh revealed she had experienced the casting couch too. "Of course, I have faced the casting couch. I have been in situations where I have been told that the only way I can get the job is by engaging in intercourse with men. There are several times people have taken work away from me. There have also been times where I knew I was doing a film and I was replaced because of someone's reference," she told Pinkvilla at the time.

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