Anurag Kashyap wasn’t in India at the time of incident, says lawyer

Indian director Anurag Kashyap presented himself before the Mumbai Police for questioning in the sexual assault case registered against him.

The filmmaker denied claims placed against him by actor Payal Ghosh and asserted that he wasn’t in India when she alleges the incident had occurred back in 2013.

On behalf of Kashyap, his lawyer, Priyanka Khimani issued a statement saying: "Mr Anurag Kashyap has denied all wrongdoing in the matter and has provided his statement to the police.”

“Mr Kashyap has provided documentary proof of the fact that throughout August, 2013 he was away in Sri Lanka in connection with the shooting of one of his films. Mr Kashyap has categorically denied that any such alleged incident ever took place and has also denied all allegations levelled against him,” it further revealed.

"Mr Kashyap is distressed with the false and reckless allegations made against him that have caused pain to him, his family and his fans. Mr Kashyap intends to vigorously pursue the legal remedies available to him," the statement added.

Earlier, Ghosh had alleged Kashyap of sexual assault as she said during an interview: "I was molested by a very famous director. The director told me that girls he works with ‘have a gala time' with him. The circumstances created at that moment were very embarrassing. It was Anurag Kashyap who tried to molest me in 2014.”

"I tried to open up about it several times, but my family and close friends asked me to be silent to avoid any problem in the future. I wanted to talk about it, but I was silenced. We should talk about it so that people like him don't abuse their position of power,” she added.