Prithviraj Sukumaran Breaks Silence On Continuing To Work With Bro Daddy AD Accused Of Molestation

A junior working on the set of Prithviraj Sukumaran's directorial Bro Daddy (2022) accused assistant director Mansoor Rasheed of raping her. The artist claimed that Prithviraj was aware of this and still went on to work with Rasheed in two other films. Now, the Aadujeevitham actor has responded to the artist's claim and said he wasn't aware. And when he got to know about it, the assistant director was dismissed from the set.

For the unversed, the alleged victim claimed she had already registered a case against Rasheed in 2023. She also shared that Rasheed "indirectly threatened" and harassed her friends and relatives.

I was made aware of the issue when...: Prithviraj Sukumaran

According to a report on OnManorama, Prithviraj was asked if he or anyone else from the film crew was aware of the case filed against Rasheed. To this, the actor replied that he learned about it when the Chief Associate Director informed him in October 2023 during the filming of Empuraan. He was made aware of the issue and told him about the complaint. On knowing this, he immediately asked Rasheed to leave the set.

"I was made aware of the issue when my chief associate director told me that such a complaint has been registered with the police against the said assistant director. This happened in October 2023 at the very beginning of Empuraan filming, a few days into the first schedule. I wasn't aware of this incident or the issues leading up to the complaint till then," he said.

"The assistant director was instructed to leave the set the very same day, present himself before the police and face the due course of law," he concluded.

Junior artist shares details of alleged rape and extortion

The incident pertaining to the case took place on August 8, 2021 in Hyderabad. In an interview with Republic World, the victim shared harrowing details of sexual abuse she faced at the hands of Prithviraj's assistant and a timeline of events. She shared that the incident took place while the team was well into the shoot.

“I was given sprite. I fell dizzy. When I woke up I found myself nude. There was sperm in my body. I woke up at 11 pm to find myself nude. I called friends who asked me to vacate the hotel I called my husband and vacated my room at 1 am,” she claimed. She also accused Mansoor Rasheed of extorting ₹6 lakh from her and threatening to release her compromising photographs.

Was Mansoor Rasheed arrested?

The artist told the portal that she filed a complaint with the commissioner in Hyderabad. Two policemen were sent for investigation. On June 20, 2023, they reached Kerala but couldn't find Rasheed.