Pakistani actor and singer Meesha Shafi took to Twitter today to allege that she was physically sexually harassed by singer Ali Zafar on multiple occasions, which he later said was not true.
"Sharing this because I believe that by speaking out about my own experience of sexual harassment, I will break the culture of silence that permeates through our society. It is not easy to speak out.. but it is harder to stay silent. My conscience will not allow it anymore #MeToo," read Shafi's tweet, with the following note attached as a picture:
A few hours later, Ali Zafar responded, denying the allegations and saying he will take matters to court.
Shafi's tweet comes just after a week of a wave of Pakistani women on Twitter sharing their stories of sexual harassment, as well as naming and shaming the men involved.
On April 11, Pakistani Twitter user Mehravar Ali revealed screenshots of Pakistan's biggest music streaming website's CEO Khalid Bajwa harassing her and soliciting photos.
Shafi came out in full support of Mehravar Ali and other victims. She says that by telling her story, she hopes she's setting an example for the women of her country to do the same.
@mehravarr You’re a champ! More power to you ✌🏼♥️
"These incidences did not happen when I was young. This happened to me despite the fact that I'm an empowered, accomplished woman who is known for speaking her mind! This happened to me as a mother of two children," Shafi specifies in her note. "We only have our voices and the time has come to use them."
We have reached out to both Meesha Shafi and Ali Zafar for comment.