On 10 October, a former model and aspiring actress, had accused Ashish Patil, the business and creative head at Yash Raj Films, of sexual harassment and exploitation through an anonymous post, which was shared from the account of Japleen Pasricha, founder and editor-in-chief of Feminism in India.
The incidents date back to 2016. The survivor described a harrowing account of how Patil allegedly exploited her under the pretext of offering work.
Yash Raj Films' had promptly ordered an inquiry into the matter, referring it to the Internal Complaints Committee, but failed to take any preliminary action. The survivor raised a doubt over whether the inquiry would be unbiased and fair since no premilinary action had been taken against Patil.
But now, the production house has now issued a statement, confirming that Patil "had been asked to proceed on administrative leave."
A spokesperson from the production house said in a statement, “Ashish Patil has been asked to proceed on administrative leave till YRF [Yash Raj Films] thoroughly investigates the allegations levelled on him. YRF has earnestly requested the survivor to kindly step forward and share her account of the incidents to the presiding officer of our Internal Complaints Committee who would maintain utmost confidentiality. We seek her kind co-operation in the investigation so that we can appropriately address this issue. We are more than willing to extend our full support and co-operation to address this serious allegation. YRF has zero tolerance towards any form of sexual exploitation or harassment of women and we shall take the strictest necessary action against the alleged perpetrator, if the allegations of sexual harassment are found to be true.”
Yash Raj Films also confirmed that the survivor had reached out through email and things were moving forward. “We have received an email from the survivor. We are thankful to her for reaching out to us and we have started engaging with her on the same,” the spokesperson informed.
The inquiry into the matter will begin today.