Bengali Actress Payel Mukherjee’s Honda WR-V ‘Attacked’ By Biker In Kolkata: Posts Tearful Video
Popular Bengali actor Payel Mukherjee was allegedly assaulted by a biker in Kolkata following a “minor” collision between her car and his bike on Friday night. The actress shared the details of the incident in a video on social media, where she explained that post-collision, the biker vandalized her car. The incident occurred on Southern Avenue amidst ongoing citywide protests over the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
The Incident…
In the video posted on her Facebook profile, Payel recounted the harrowing experience. She explained that the biker stopped in front of her Honda WRV and demanded that she step out of the vehicle.
Fearing for her safety, Payel refused to do so, prompting the biker to smash her car window, injuring her hand in the process. The awestruck actress soon ended up in tears. The footage shows the shattered window and a visibly shaken Payel, who described the traumatic event with tearful eyes.
“As I refused to come out fearing for my safety, the man banged against the glass on my right-side window and broke it into pieces, injuring my hand,” Payel said in the video. She expressed her concern over the state of women’s safety in the city, stating, “If a woman can be accosted and heckled in such a way on a crowded street in the evening, that exemplifies the real situation… I shudder to think what would have happened to me had this incident taken place in a deserted spot.”
Following the incident, Kolkata Police arrested the biker and filed a case at the Tollygunge police station. The motorcycle involved seems to be a Bajaj Avenger wearing the number plate TN 31 H 4641. TN 31 belongs to Cuddalore RTO in Tamil Nadu. However, we don’t know if the rider is from Tamil Nadu or not.
The man has been charged with wrongful restraint, assault, insult to the modesty of a woman, and criminal intimidation. According to reports from PTI, the biker claimed that Payel’s car had grazed his bike, but the actor denied this accusation.
India’s Questionable Women Safety
This incident occurs at a time when the air is quite tense at Kolkata, due to the RG Kar Medical College rape incident. Protests and public rage are going strong against the unfortunate incident that had a 31-year-old PG student found raped and murdered in the college seminar room. The awful incident that happened earlier in August has triggered nationwide protests and public agitation.
The recent incident of the Bengali actress being ‘attacked’ in public, further reiterates the alarming women safety standards in India. It is not uncommon for angry and rogue bikers to open physical assaults on the other end involved in a crash. However, doing so on a lady in a deserted-yet-public space, is extremely alarming. This incident, thus needs immediate attention.
Payel Mukherjee’s Notable Films
In the course of her career, Payel has been part of several Bollywood, Bengali and South Indian (Telugu and Malayalam) movies. Her most recent Bengali film, Noishabdo (2024), had Payal in a critically appreciated lead role. She made her Bollywood debut through ‘Woh 3 Din’ in 2022 and is also part of multiple highly anticipated B-Town movies like Prakash Jha’s Konman, Dhaga Production’s Girgit, Dharmendra Boghel’s Pullu, and Flowers of the Mountain. Payel also won the Best Actress award at the Kerala Short Film Festival for her debut Malayalam film Eva in 2021.