PARIS: Bollywood actor Mallika Sherawat and her partner were assaulted in Paris last week, AFP and other media reported on Thursday, just over a month after U.S reality TV star Kim Kardashian was attacked and robbed in the French capital.

The assault on Sherawat took place on Nov. 11, a wire service reported.

“Sherawat was punched in the face and sprayed with tear gas by masked attackers who tried to steal her handbag,” the French news agency said, citing a police source.

The attackers fled without taking anything, a source close to the investigation told the news agency.

Nobody was immediately available to comment at the Paris prosecutor’s office. A police spokesman declined to comment.

Sherawat, whose real name is Reema Lambha, came to prominence from 2004 thanks to a raunchy film that helped bust taboos around sex in the conservative Indian film industry.

She is well-known for her role in the film “Murder” and also starred in Jackie Chan’s “The Myth” in 2005.

She is also a women’s rights activist and caused controversy with comments about how Indian society is “regressive and depressive” because of how it treats women.

 

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