Actor Aaditi Pohankar, best known for her performances in web series like She and Aashram, recently opened up in an interview with Hauterrfly about experiencing harassment and inappropriate behaviour from men during her school days.
(Also Read: Aaditi Pohankar: I want people to remember my roles)
When Aaditi faced harassment on the bus
Aaditi recalled a childhood incident involving an unsettling encounter on her society’s school bus. She shared that her mother, a CAICWA teacher, had a student who was also on the bus. After reaching the fifth standard, students were expected to take their own transport, and during one such ride, she noticed the individual attempting to show her something inappropriate from under his bag.
Initially unsure of how to react, she admitted to laughing nervously before addressing him as “Dada” (brother in Marathi). However, upon realising the intent in his eyes, she immediately stood up and called out his behaviour loudly in front of everyone on the bus. The man, caught off guard, forgot to zip his trousers in his panic. As the bus continued moving, his trousers fell down, and in a desperate attempt to escape, he jumped out of the moving vehicle.
When a schoolboy touched Aaditi inappropriately on a Mumbai train
She further recalled facing harassment while travelling on a Mumbai local train. As an 11th-standard student, she was in the first-class ladies’ compartment, where boys in school uniforms under the age of 18 were also permitted. During the journey, as the train departed from Dadar station, a schoolboy standing nearby and holding onto the bar suddenly grabbed her ‘b**bs.
She added, “I was wearing a kurta. I had no idea he had this intention towards me, and when he did, I went into a state of shock. So, I got off at the next station and went to the police station. The cops said, ‘Arre thik hai, kuch hua kya zyada?’ (Did anything major happen?). I replied, ‘Mentally mereko harassment hua’ (I was mentally harassed). The officer responded, ‘Abhi kaha dhundenge usko’ (Where will we find him now?). You won’t believe it, but that guy was standing right where he had done that to me, trying to do the same to another girl. I recognised him and pointed him out. The cop asked, ‘What proof do you have?’ I said, ‘I am telling you he did it to me. Why would I lie?'”
She then described how she intimidated the boy into confessing. “A female constable accompanied me and asked him, ‘Inko kuch kiya kya?’ (Did you do anything to her?). He denied it. I screamed at him loudly, scaring him because he was young after all, and I was two to three years older than him. Then, when I made a gesture as if I was going to hit him, he panicked and said, ‘Haan, sorry sorry’ (Yes, sorry, sorry). I literally held him by his collar and said, ‘Aur kisi ke saath karega? Inke saamne bol’ (Will you do this to anyone else? Say it in front of them). I got straight into his soul—that’s when he finally admitted, ‘Yes’.”
Meanwhile, Aaditi is currently receiving praise for her performance in Aashram Season 3 Part 2. The actor will next be seen in Netflix’s series Mandala Murders, which also stars Vaani Kapoor, Surveen Chawla, Vaibhav Raj Gupta, and Shriya Pilgaonkar in key roles. The series is expected to release this year.
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