Prithviraj, the actor and director of the film 'Bro Daddy', has responded to the case involving Assistant Director Mansoor Rasheed's molestation of a junior artist. When he became aware of the incident, the assistant director was dismissed from the set, Prithviraj stated in a WhatsApp message to a journalist. The AD was also instructed to appear before the police and face legal action. This is Prithviraj's first response to the matter.
The question posed to Prithviraj was whether he or anyone else from the film crew was aware of the case filed against Assistant Director Mansoor Rasheed in 2023 and what actions were taken. Prithviraj responded that he only learned about it when the Chief Associate Director informed him. "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 added.
Despite the Hyderabad Police registering a case against Mansoor Rasheed in 2023 for molesting and filming nude images, they were unable to arrest the accused.
The incident pertaining to the case took place on August 8, 2021 in Hyderabad. The junior artist was taken to the set of the movie through the Malayali Association to act in a wedding scene. As per her complaint, Mansoor offered her a chance in the upcoming scenes and took a room for her in the same hotel where the film crew was staying. Later, he reached her room and raped her by giving her an intoxicating drink. The next day morning, Mansoor demanded money after sending her a nude photo. She alleged that Mansoor collected money from her multiple times after blackmailing her with the obscene photo.
Later, the junior artist lodged a complaint at Gachibowli police station in Hyderabad. Police slapped rape charges against Mansoor over the complaint. The complainant alleged that the accused fled from police with the support of politicians. Police reached his house at Kollam's Kadakkal to record his arrest, but he escaped. The woman claimed that Mansoor worked in films of many prominent figures in the Malayalam film industry even after police booked him. She alleged that the Chief Minister and Cultural Affairs Minister ignored her complaint against Mansoor.
