Fatima Sana Shaikh recalls a harrowing experience of being assaulted and harassed: ‘I hit him because he touched me’ | Hindi Movie News

Fatima Sana Shaikh known for ‘Dangal’ and was recently seen in ‘Metro…In Dino’ started her career as a child artist. One clearly remembers her as the little girl in ‘Chachi 420’. The actress who is loved on-screen is also appreciated for her honesty offscreen. She is often seen putting up her views about her experiences or opinions quite honestly. In a recent chat, she has opened up about two deeply disturbing experiences that shed light on the persistent reality of gender-based harassment. In a candid conversation with Hauterrfly, she shared how a violent assault changed the way she responds to inappropriate behavior in public—and why the emotional toll of such moments lingers long after. Recalling one particularly traumatic incident, Fatima described how she once confronted a man who touched her inappropriately. “Once, a man had touched me inappropriately, and I hit him. But he hit me back so hard, that I was fully down,” she recounted. “I only hit him because he touched me, but that pissed him off and he hit me to the point that I fell.” The shocking violence left a lasting impact on her. “After that incident, I got a little more cautious. I realised that we also have to check how to react in such situations,” she said, adding poignantly, “But look at the irony… something wrong is happening with us, and we only have to think how to react to it.” Fatima also shared another unsettling encounter, this time during the COVID-19 lockdown in Mumbai. While cycling through the city wearing a mask, she was followed and harassed by a tempo driver. “During the COVID-19 lockdown, I was riding my bicycle in Mumbai wearing a mask, and there was this tempo driver who kept honking and making weird sounds at me. And till the time I didn’t take a turn in my lane, he kept following me,” she said. Commenting on the pervasive nature of such behavior, she didn’t hold back: “You only have to be a girl for it.”On work front, her latest release, Aap Jaisa Koi, debuted on Netflix this Friday. Co-starring R. Madhavan, the film explores a mature love story centered around a woman who asserts her voice within a conservative family while fighting for her relationship.