Woman comedian accuses another of forceful kissing

Stand-up comedienne Kaneez Surka has accused popular comic Aditi Mittal of forcefully kissing her and putting her "tongue in my mouth" while she was hosting a show in 2016.

Aditi has immediately apologised following Surka's revelation and said that it was a "joke".

Surka took to Twitter on Wednesday and wrote a long post saying that Mittal, who has been backing women's voices in the wake of the #MeToo movement, forcefully kissed her without her consent during the show in Mumbai's Andheri Base.

She wrote: "I need to tell my story as it happened to me. Two years ago, at a comedy show I was hosting at Andheri Base, in the presence of an audience of 100 and many comedians, Aditi Mittal walked up on stage and forcefully kissed me on my mouth out of the blue and put her tongue in my mouth, while I was still on stage and without my consent."

Surka added that it left her humiliated, shocked and completely stripped of choice.

"Every person is entitled to choice and boundaries and she violated mine. While I mustered the courage to reach out to her a year ago, she first apologised but soon turned hostile towards me, leaving me confused and hurt," she added.

"Seeing her name all over Twitter as a champion of the cause" has left Surka hurt and baffled "immensely".

She has demanded a public apology from Mittal.

"Out of my belief that the opportunity to reform is the only way forward, yesterday, once again, I spoke to her through a mutual friend and requested her to come out with a public apology and save me the pain of having to reveal my identity."

Moments later, Mittal took to Twitter to say that it was "a peck on the lips (there was no tongue) as a joke as a part of the act".

She added that the intentions were "not sexual in nature" and added that she is "unconditionally sorry".

Mittal said in 2017 they spoke the matter at length and issued an apology then.

"As far as turning hostile was concerned -- I began to consciously avoid any place that she or anyone from those social circles might be. Out of respect for her space. It was done as a cautionary measure."

She then ended the post with "Kaneez, I am sorry".

--IANS

dc/in/vm