Ali Zafar defamation case: court fines Meesha Shafi Rs10,000

On April 23, singer Ali Zafar has sent an Rs 100 million legal notice to Meesha Shafi over the allegations of sexual harassment. In the legal notice, he asked Meesha Shafi to seek an apology on the media for leveling baseless allegations against him within a fortnight failure to which he will file a defamation suit. He stated that the baseless allegations had badly damaged his credibility. Meesha Shafi has accused Ali Zafar of harassing her sexually several times, triggering a debate in the showbiz industry. Ali Zafar had denied the charges. Make-up artist Leena Ghani has praised and thanked Shafi for her bravery in speaking up and shared her #MeToo story. She says: “Seeing Meesha’s courage it’s impossible for me to not speak now, not only in support of her but also to say she’s not alone.” Journalist Maham Javaid has described an encounter “from many, many years ago, when Ali Zafar tried to kiss” a cousin of hers and to pull her “into a restroom with him”. Blogger Humna Raza says Ali inappropriately touched her at a public event. Shafi sparked Pakistan’s #MeToo moment of sorts when she took to Twitter on Thursday to allege that Ali Zafar had sexually harassed her more than once. Usman Khalid Butt and Urwa Hocane have tweeted in support of Shafi. Actor Maya Ali has said she respects Ali Zafar and has asked people to withhold judgment until all the facts come out.