Akbar Khan lashes out at Star reporter

Monday, December 19, 2005

Director of the recently released Taj Mahal, Akbar Khan, has accused a Star TV reporter of assaulting his wife, trespassing on his property and audaciously recording the movements of the family. This was in response to Star TV reporter Jitendra Dixit's allegation that Akbar Khan had beaten him up while he was on duty. Addressing the press recently, Khan recounted the evening saying that he was away attending actor Fardeen Khan's sangeet, while his wife stayed back at home to look after their ailing son.

Khan said, "At 1 am, my wife came out to check if the car had returned and she saw the Star TV reporters hiding in the dark, filming something. She asked them to identify themselves and tried to stop them. They twisted her hand and pushed her. There was no watchman as we are going to employ new security guards in a few days. Fortunately, I came back early and saw the commotion outside the house."
When he questioned the reporters, they said that his wife Mariam had broken their camera's flashlight. However, Khan's sons, who were out by then, insisted that the reporters had misbehaved with their mother. "I admit that I slapped the reporter in a fit of rage. I held the reporter back as he was trying to run away. The police arrived within 10 minutes of calling the station. Inspector Chavan of the Santa Cruz police station was here and he knows the truth," he added.

Incidentally, Khan took their master tape, made a copy of it and gave the original to the police. In this entire process, it is learnt that the channel crew had kept the camera on. Khan's wife Mariam said, "They trespassed on our property while my husband was away and hurt me in the process. They have no right to do this and then they go around blaming us. I only asked for a written apology. They have no respect for women."

Mr Majid Memon, who is handling the case for Akbar Khan, said, "Star TV has committed a cognizable offence. It is a serious case of misuse of rights. The reporter has verbally apologised and that speaks volumes of his wrongdoing. This is yellow journalism. We will take up the issue with the information and broadcasting ministry. The law will take its own course."