Shafi told to apologise or face Rs1b lawsuit
Zafar insists that his accuser must delete sexual harassment claims on Twitter
Pakistan’s top singer and actor Ali Zafar has sent a legal notice to fellow musician Meesha Shafi for the sexual harassment allegations she made against him on Twitter last week.
In the legal notice, Zafar has demanded that Shafi deletes the tweet that contains her sexual harassment allegations against him and issues an apology on Twitter, failing which he will file a Rs1 billion (Dh55.29 million) defamation suit against her.
The notice also sought “an apology using the same social media platform of Twitter proclaiming our client’s innocence.”
It adds that: “However, if you fail to delete the tweet and issue an apology based on Twitter within 14 days of receipt of the legal notice, we have definite instructions from our client to seek remedy for redressal of his grievance and claim damages to the tune of at least Rs100 crore.”
Shafi’s legal team has strongly dismissed the contents of the legal notice as “false”.
“Meesha’s allegations of sexual harassment against Zafar are based on truth, thus the issue of defamation does not arise,” Barrister Mohammad Ahmad Pansota told local media. Pansota has claimed the singer has “proof of sexual harassment” against Zafar to back up her claim.
Shafi announced on Twitter that she had appointed Pansota and Nighat Dad, a digital rights activist, as her legal team.
Last week, Shafi posted a statement on Twitter, accusing Zafar of physically harassing her on “more than one occasion”.