Rakhi Sawant has stirred the hornet’s nest again. Not long after she was in the dock for allegedly driving a young man to suicide after she called him impotent, the starlet, 32, has been accused of molesting a Delhi-based guru, Swami Arvind, giving him a panic attack that landed him in hospital. The two were part of a reality show on India TV — Bigg Toss — loosely based on Bigg Boss, which makes contestants stay together in a villa in Noida.
“I have left the show because Rakhi, whom I treated like my daughter, sat on my lap and made me do a close dance with her. I kept on saying, ‘for God’s sake, leave me, I am not here to do these cheap and obscene acts’, but she did not listen and humiliated me in front of so many viewers. I was shocked to see a woman molesting a man like this,” says the 48-year-old. The Shraddha channel show host was admitted to the Geeta Gupta Nursing Home in Shahdara last week after he suffered an angina attack and his blood pressure shot up.
Sawant, however, denies the allegations. “By accusing me of molesting him, he is only gaining mileage in my name. Rakhi Sawant ke saath naam juda toh popular ho jayega (If you get linked with me, you will get popular),” she says, adding, “He was not fit for the show. Main us dhongi-paakhandi baba ka asli chehra saamne laayi hun (I have ripped the mask off that fraudulent priest). Why did he not raise the issue while he was in the house?”
Some are sure that it’s just another publicity gimmick. “It’s a new show and it’s Rakhi Sawant, so it’s obviously all a tamasha,” says Nitesh Singh, 21, a viewer of the show. “Rakhi Sawant can go to any extent to gain attention. But if the priest is indeed in hospital, this is just not on,” says Bobby Darling, former Bigg Boss contestant.