Bengali actress Brishti Roy on escort service poster; files complaint

By Ahana Bhattacharya

Kolkata, Sep 3 (IANS) The past few days have a nightmare for Bengali television actress Brishti Roy. She has been getting calls from all over Bengal, enquiring her "rate", and escort service details. It took a while for a shocked Brishti to realise what was going on. Over the past 10 days or so, posters offering escort service had mushroomed all over Kolkata local trains and railway stations, with the actress's name, mugshot and mobile number on them.

"Are you unhappy? Are you unable to sleep at night? Does your wife not stay with you? Don't worry, just call me and come over. I am Brishti Roy. You can also earn up to Rs 10,000 and 20,000," the poster reads in Bengali. It has her mobile number printed in bold red letters below the ad.

Talking to IANS over phone, Brishti shared: "I started receiving calls from unknown numbers from August 24. It was a Saturday. Initially, I thought they were spam calls and blocked the callers after speaking for a couple of minutes. Three days later, a friend informed about a poster on a local train. The poster had an advertisement for escort service featuring my name, photo and contact number. My friend clicked a photo of the poster and shared it with me. I was so shocked to see it that I could not understand how to react. After that, I have been receiving multiple calls on my mobile number from random places, enquiring about escort services and my 'rate'. Everybody told me that they have received my number from the poster bearing an escort service ad. People were even asking me whether the girl on the poster was indeed actress Brishti Roy."

The actress sounded shaken and traumatised even on the phone as she narrated her ordeal.

Brishti, a resident of the Malancha area near Sonarpur, continued: "I have received nasty calls today morning, too. People are using filthy language, calling me names and using slang words. Their language makes me feel nauseated. A lawyer from Baruipur court called me yesterday, enquiring about my 'rate' and where he could get the 'service'. I feel scared and helpless. I can't understand what is happening and who did this to me. The past few days have been like a nightmare. I am so tired of these calls from strangers. I wish I could have a normal day when these calls would stop."

Brishti Roy is a regular face on television and has worked in Bangla daily soaps like "Bou Kotha Kao," "Tomay Amay Mile," "Subarnalata," "Bhoomikanya," and "Mahapeeth Tarapeeth". She has also acted in a few Bangla films and is gearing up for her next. However, the actress has currently stopped shooting because she is not in the frame of mind to face the camera.

"I have thought of changing my phone number, but I can't do it immediately because the police are investigating the matter. They need this number because it has been printed on the poster. Also, I am an actress and most (film and TV) industry people have this number. So, I cannot discard it overnight. But I will have to change this number eventually for my own safety. I am trying to fight the situation. I know I am innocent and somebody is deliberately trying to harass me, but I will not give up so easily. I just hope the culprits are traced quickly," she said.

The actress feels the culprit is someone she knows. "They (the culprits) have got my photo off social media. It is the photo on my Facebook and WhatsApp handles. I don't know who did this to me and why, but I am sure someone who knows me personally is involved. Otherwise, how would they get my number? I am a regular face on television and have worked on quite a few popular soaps. I also starred in a recently-released film. The culprits perhaps want to malign my image as an actress. Today this is happening to me, tomorrow it can happen to you or any other girl. It has become so easy to malign a girl these days. That's why I will fight till the culprits are nabbed."

The actress also informed that she has already registered a complaint with Sonarpur Police Station. Commenting on the same, Rashid Khan, superintendent of police, Baruipur police district, West Bengal, said: "We have started an investigation on the case. Till now, nobody has been arrested."