As per information received from the police department, actress Tanushree Dutta’s allegations against veteran actor Nana Patekar have fallen flat. The Mumbai Police has informed a local court that they haven’t found any evidence to prosecute actor Nana Patekar in a molestation case lodged against him by Dutta.
The suburban Oshiwara police on Wednesday filed a ‘B Summary’ report before a metropolitan magistrate in Andheri, Deputy Commissioner of Police Paramjit Singh Dahiya told PTI.
A ‘B-Summary’ report is filed when the police do not find any evidence against the accused person to file a charge sheet and seek trial.
After Hollywood felt the heat of MeToo movement and many reports came up against popular faces of the industry, Bollywood too took up the momentum following Dutta who filed a complaint against Patekar in October 2018 accusing the actor of harassing and misbehaving with her while shooting a song on the sets of the film “Horn Ok Pleasss” in 2008.
However, Tanushree Dutta’s advocate Nitin Satpute denied receiving any official information on the police closing the case.
“I have not received any official information from Oshiwara police station about classification of offence (Summary Report) from police on behalf of Tanushree Dutta, if police files any B or C classification of summery Report, that cannot be final, we can oppose before court and after hearing if court satisfies then again it can be directed police to reinvestigation or further investigations,” Satpute said.
He further added, “Police acted negligently to protect Nana Patekar, many witnesses statement not yet recorded, one Shyni Shetty’s statement was recorded partly; police have not investigated properly and we are opposing the summary reports and also going to file a writ petition before the Bombay High Court.”
She also alleged that during the shooting of the song sequence, Patekar inappropriately touched her even after she had clearly mentioned that she will not perform lewd, vulgar or uncomfortable steps. She filed an FIR and Nana Patekar has even stepped down from his upcoming film, ‘Housefull 4’. Rana Daggubati replaced Nana Patekar in the film.
A series of allegations that came out with the MeToo campaign got hell lot of support both from the industry and other fields. However, the campaign took an uglier turn when many well-known names from the industry got exposed.
Moreover, not only the entertainment industry, women from various other fields too started voicing in public about the harassment faced by them.
While Patekar’s name was creating enough hubbubs in the media, allegations of sexual misconduct against director Sajid Khan came as a shocker. Sajid Khan was that time directing ‘Housefull 4’. Starting with Saloni Chopra, Rachel White to journalist Karishma Upadhyay, all accused the filmmaker of sexual harassment. As a result, the director was pressured to step down as the director of the film.
Vikas Bahl, the director who was praised for her award-winning women-oriented film Queen starring Kangana Ranaut, was also accused of sexual harassment by an employee of Phantom Films. The victim, in an interview with HuffPost India, put some shocking allegations on the director. She alleged that Vikas Bahl masturbated on her back and also claimed that although she reached out to Anurag Kashyap, no action was taken against him. Following that, Kashyap dissolved the Phantom films production house which had Vikas Bahl as one of the co-owners. He even changed his Twitter bio to – Ashamed.
Subhash Ghai was also accused by an anonymous girl of raping her. During a Twitter conversation with writer Mahima Kukreja, the woman who didn’t want to reveal her name said that the filmmaker harassed her while she was working on a film with him. As per the Twitter chat, Ghai even spiked her drink during a late night music session and raped her in a hotel room.
The MeToo campaign came up with its ultimate shocker when the famous ‘Bapuji’ and the Bollywood’s ‘sanskari man’, the older and famous celebrity Alok Nath became next in line. He was accused of raping the writer of Tara. It took 19 years for Vinta Nanda, to speak up against the man. In a long Facebook post, Nanda explained how he misbehaved with her which eventually led to rape.
Adding more to the list, singer Sona Mohapatra accused singer Kailash Kher of sexual misconduct. T-Series head Bhushan Kumar, Chetan Bhagat, and Rajat Kapoor were also charged with the same. It was in reports that Kapoor has been accused of asking questions such as ‘Are you as sexy as you sound?’ Not just that, he also inquired about the girl’s body measurements.
Keeping the list open, a former newspaper writer accused famous actor Piyush Mishra. If reports are to be believed, then during a house party, Piyush Mishra misbehaved with a girl. Keeping herself anonymous, she mentioned that Piyush was a few drinks down. When the actor was asked the same, he was quick to apologise if it made the “lady uncomfortable”.
How and When did all these start?
MeToo movement was founded by Tarana Burke but began as a much needed social phenomenon in October 2017 as a hashtag started by American actress Alyssa Milano who shared her story of sexual assault against Harvey Weinstein. The hashtag caught like wildfire when women from across the world began talking about their survivor stories. In India, however, this MeToo movement didn’t take flight until actress Tanushree Dutta decided to speak up once against actor Nana Patekar. What began as one woman’s story soon became a phenomenon when names of powerful men in the country started surfacing. From actor Alok Nath to journalist MJ Akbar, the movement has brought to light many stories of sexual harassment and abuse.
After allegations against Harvey Weinstein, the use of the #MeToo hashtag on social media with respect to the event spread quickly in India, where sexual harassment is commonly referred to by the word ‘eve-teasing’, a term described as misleading, tame, and diluting the seriousness of the crime. In response to #MeToo, there have been attempts to teach Indian women about workplace rights and safe reporting, as well as educating men about the scope of the problem. Some have likened #MeToo to a 2012 social movement which followed a violent gang rape in New Delhi that later resulted in a woman’s death, which caused the Indian government to institute harsher punishments for rape. Others have suggested there was underlying public anger over a Delhi rape conviction that was overturned by Judge Ashutosh Kumar a month before against filmmaker and writer Mahmood Farooqui, ruling that a “feeble no” was not enough to revoke consent because it was typical for one partner to be less willing. The case is being appealed to the Supreme Court. Activist Jasmeen Patheja, head of Blank Noise, stated #MeToo’s power is in demonstrating India can no longer ignore the scope of the problem. Kaimini Jaiswal, a lawyer at the Supreme Court of India, stressed the importance of teaching women how to read, especially in rural villages, because most women in these areas are illiterate and completely financially and emotionally dependent on a male relative.
Blogger Sheena Dabolkar’s viral #MeToo tweet resulted in the boycott of Khodu Irani’s popular Pune pub High Spirits, by several well-known performers. Several women mentioned Mahesh Murthy, which initiated a police case in January 2018. Trends Desk of The Indian Express wrote that many Indian men are speaking up as a part of #MeToo, including discussions about consent and how some men are also abused. Rina Chandran of Reuters said #MeToo is ignoring the 600,000 women in India who are currently sex workers against their will and are typically poor without education or family. (With inputs from News agency)
