Vikas Bahl is a Sexual Offender, He Preyed on a Young Woman: Vikramaditya Motwane

After Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane broke his silence over former Phantom partner Vikas Bahl’s sexual harassment row. Extending an apology, Motwane issued a statement on Twitter. "I'm truly sorry about what happened to the girl. Vikas Bahl is a sexual offender. He's preyed on a young woman, abused her trust, ruined her life. The scars are going to stay and that just isn't right," wrote the filmmaker.

Continuing further he vowed to provide a safer working environment under him, "The only thing I can offer now is an apology. And the only thing I can say is that this will never happen again on my watch," he wrote in the statement.

Unlike Kashyap who stated that he went on to take the matter in public domain anonymously, Vikramaditya said he was unaware about the incident until March, 2017. "I didn't hear about the incident between Vikas and the girl when it happened in 2015. The the first time I heard of it was in March 2017, when Anurag called me and told me about it. Madhu, me and Anurag sat with the girl and she told us the whole story, in the same detail as in the article. It was hard to hear and it horrified us," he said.

Defending himself for not coming out and talking about the matter, he threw it off to the victim saying he did it to protect the girl's identity. "For those of you accusing me of being complicit, creating a boys club, and protecting Vikas - I was silent in the press because I felt I was trying to make things right in a manner that, at all times, sought to protect the identity of the girl in question, without assigning any doubt whatsoever to her version of what had transpired, and most importantly, on terms that she wanted and expressly agreed to then."

On the other hand, Anurag Kashyap mentioned that they couldn't take down Bahl's name because the company laws didn't allow him to do so.

Read Anurag Kashyap's statement here.

For the unversed, in a recent article on Huffpost India, a woman has reiterated the allegations of molestation against Vikas Bahl. Soon after, Queen actor Kangana Ranaut also alleged that Bahl made her feel uncomfortable on several occasions.

Earlier on Saturday, the four partners of the Phantom Films Vikramaditya Motwane, Anurag Kashyap, Madhu Mantena and Vikas Bahl, announced to dissolve their joint banner without citing the reason for this decision.