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‘He grabbed me’: Akanksha Choudhary reveals casting couch ordeal in beauty pageant industry
Before exiting Lock Upp Sach Ya Sazaa, Akanksha Choudhary alleged that an influential figure associated with the beauty pageant industry had demanded sexual favours in exchange for financial assistance.
Akanksha Choudhary opens up about her secret on Lock Upp Sach Ya Sazaa. (Photo: Netflix)
Model-turned-reality star Akanksha Choudhary has been evicted from Lock Upp: Sach Ya Sazaa ahead of the finale week. Before exiting the Netflix reality show, she revealed her secret, alleging that an influential figure associated with the beauty pageant industry had demanded sexual favours in exchange for financial assistance. As Akanksha became emotional while recounting the incident, hosts Farah Khan and Riteish Deshmukh praised her courage for speaking about her experience on such a public platform.
Akanksha Choudhary on the fashion industry’s dark reality
On Saturday, as Akanksha Choudhary got evicted from Lock Upp 2, she revealed her secret, saying, “I was going to participate in a pageant and needed around Rs 1-2 lakhs to buy garments, pay for training fees, etc. We didn’t have that kind of money; my parents couldn’t afford it. There is one very influential person. I don’t want to give full details because he is a huge name. I knew him for many years because he had come as a judge in our pageants before. I reached out to him because he has financially helped a lot of people in pageants, so I asked him if he could do so for me for two months. I offered to work off the debt. I have done engineering and have good speaking skills, so I could do a job for him. He agreed instantly and invited me to his place.”
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She further added, “This wasn’t the first time I had been to his house. I have been there for events with my mentors, but that day when I went there, he came towards me and hugged me. But he didn’t just hug me. He grabbed me. After that, he wouldn’t take his hands off me. He was quite old, so I just pushed him away. Then he sat down and told me, ‘It’s been a year; good to see you have finally grown up. A year ago, when you had come, I had seen how your thinking was so backward. If you had agreed to be with me back then, you would be acting in projects now. Right now, no one is giving you work, so now that you have come, I am offering you this much money. But in return, you will have to have sex with me.’ He had the whole timeline planned out. In a month, I was expected to have sex with him 5-6 times.”
“I told him, ‘Sir, I didn’t know this. Had I known, I wouldn’t have come.’ I refused, so he said, ‘I thought after a year, you would change the way you think. But you are still stuck up in the old mindset. Two years from now, you will regret this. In this industry, nothing works without that because you are a nobody.’ Then six months later, I was on a very big show. One year later, I am standing on one of the biggest stages, ” an emotional Akanksha concluded.
Her revelation drew an emotional response from hosts Farah Khan and Riteish Deshmukh, who applauded her courage. Farah said, “I hope he is watching this show and sees where you are today. Your thinking is not backward, but right. I am proud of you.” Riteish added, “This is really important, that you stood up for yourself. Your story will help many girls in the same field. I agree with Farah, and I hope he is watching this show and knows that after turning down his offer, a person has reached such a big platform based on her hard work. It’s not easy to say all this on such a big platform.”
Lock Upp Sach Ya Sazaa’s grand finale is set to take place on August 5.
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Disclaimer: This article contains sensitive personal accounts of harassment, coercion, and workplace misconduct shared within a reality television context. The claims and views expressed are personal narratives and have not been independently verified. Readers are advised to view this information purely for informational purposes.
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