| | | | Being tough: Celina Jaitly | In the wee hours of Friday morning, a German man accosted Celina Jaitly at the Club Lounge in the J W Marriott Hotel, Juhu. The actress complained to the hotel's duty manager and then filed an FIR at the Santa Cruz police station. Brave act Confirming the incident that occurred around 1.30 am Celina says, "No woman should be scared to fight back just because of bad publicity. It is every girl's instinctive reaction to hush up an incident like this but that only encourages such behaviour towards women." Celina says she is very impressed by the cooperation showed by the police, especially DCP Chaubey, who she says was "very helpful". A friend of the actress who had accompanied her that night, relates the incident. "After the cast and crew of Apna Sapna Money Money had a screening of their film, Celina went over to the J W Marriott for a meeting and to collect some papers. While she was still in the meeting, she noticed a foreigner trying to catch her attention. After some time, he started making lewd gestures and passing obscene comments. Celina was irritated but she tried to ignore him for as long as she could. But he refused to go away and kept getting bolder. Finally, Celina had to call in her security guards, who in turn, complained to the hotel security." Tipsy stranger Celina and her friend think that the foreigner was a guest at the hotel. "He was a German national and under the influence of alcohol. He was a tall man around 35-40 years of age and was tipping the waiters heavily. We asked the duty manager about him, but he said they couldn't divulge information about a guest but could assist the police," says the friend. Unhelpful staff Celina's security guard, Yusuf Ali adds, "When I complained to the hotel security, they refused to help saying they can't say anything to the hotel guest." Celina is upset about the attitude of the hotel authorities. "I was incensed and decided to act on my own. If sitting in my own country in a supposedly safe public place is a security hassle, then it shouldn't be taken lightly. So I called my father who is an army officer and told him about the incident. He encouraged me to go to the police and that gave me the courage to go and file an FIR," she says. |
18