India’s #MeToo: Some of the sexual harassment charges that have surfaced

Friday, October 5, was like any other day on Indian Twitter, until a writer responded to comedian Utsav Chakraborty’s tweet expressing embarrassment over Indian men reportedly harassing women while on a cruise in Australia. The writer accused Chakraborty of duplicity, recounting how he had sent her unsolicited pictures of his genitals.

Soon, many more women began to call out their alleged sexual harassers on social media using the now globally familiar hashtag #MeToo.

The outpouring saw women identifying men for actions ranging from sending inappropriate messages, forcibly groping and kissing them, to rape. The names that have emerged over the last month include an editor-turned-minister, MJ Akbar, as well as actors, singers, writers and journalists. Veteran actor Alok Nath has been accused of rape by a writer and producer who worked with him.

Here is a list of 49 names, spanning the worlds of journalism, film and TV, literature, music, art, advertising and education. These are cases where the accusers went public, or the men apologised after the allegations surfaced, or the organisations took action regardless.

Journalism

Accusation: Sexual assault and harassment

Journalist Pallavi Gogoi who worked with Akbar at the Asian Age alleged he raped her in 1994. Sixteen other women journalists who worked with the former editor over three decades have accused him of sexual harassment. The allegations range from forcibly kissing and groping women, summoning them to hotel rooms, touching them inappropriately and sending them unsolicited messages.

Response: Akbar has denied the allegations, claiming he was in a consensual relationship with Gogoi. He has filed a criminal defamation suit against Priya Ramani, the first journalist to go public with the sexual harassment allegations.

Current Status: Akbar tendered his resignation as Minister of State for External Affairs. On December 12, The Editors Guild of India suspended his membership.

Editor, predator: How MJ Akbar abused women in newsrooms for decades – and got away with it

MJ Akbar, stop with the lying. You sexually harassed me too. Your threats will not silence us

Union minister MJ Akbar resigns after being accused of sexual harassment

Should media stop publishing MJ Akbar’s work while he stands accused of sexual harassment?

Editors Guild suspends ex-Union minister MJ Akbar and former editor Tarun Tejpal

Accusation: Sexual assault and harassment

Three women journalists have accused Adhikari of forcibly kissing them while he was the editor of DNA and The Times of India.

Response: He has denied the allegations.

Current Status: He resigned as senior fellow at Center for American Progress.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Filmmaker Nishtha Jain accused Vinod Dua of sexually harassing and stalking her in 1989, while he was the anchor of the television show Janvani. Journalist and documentary filmmaker Sunita Thakur alleged Dua make inappropriate comments during a job discussion in 1986.

Response: He has denied the allegations.

Current Status: The Wire, where Dua is a consulting editor, said its Internal Complaints Committee was investigating the matter.

‘Male and on the lookout’: A journalist remembers Vinod Dua and entitled Indian men in the 1980s

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Eleven women who worked with Surendran at five different organisations have accused Surendran of sexual harassment.

Response: He has denied the allegations and called his accusers a “lynch mob.”

Current Status: Surendran stepped down as a director of the annual Mathrubhumi Festival of Letters on November 15.

Journalist CP Surendran steps down as director of literary fest after harassment allegations

Accusation: Sexual harassment

A former Hindustan Times journalist shared screenshots to establish Jha sent inappropriate and unwanted messages to her after she left the organisation to freelance.

Response: In a letter to his editor at the Hindustan Times, Jha said the allegations have raised “moral questions” about his conduct and stepped down as the newspaper’s political editor.

Current Status: The newspaper said the allegations will be investigated by its Internal Complaints Committee.

Accusation: Sexual assault

Vidya Krishnan, a former editor at The Hindu accused Sawant of sexually harassing and assaulting her during a reporting trip in 2003. The accusation was published in the Caravan magazine.

Response: Sawant has said the allegations are “irresponsible, baseless, and completely false,” and is seeking legal action.

Current Status: In a statement, India Today has said they’ve asked Sawant for an explanation.

Journalist Vidya Krishnan stands by her sexual harassment allegations against Gaurav Sawant

Accusation: Sexual harassment

At least eight women have accused Sreenivas of sexual harassment. Sandhya Menon, a former colleague, has accused him of touching her inappropriately in 2008.

Response: He neither denied nor confirmed the allegations.

Current Status: The Times of India, which employed Sreenivas as the resident editor of its Hyderabad edition, constituted a committee to look into the allegations against him. Sreenivas resigned on October 13.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Two women journalists have accused Ojha of discriminating against them after they refused his advances.

Response: He has denied the allegations, calling them “malicious and defamatory.”

Current Status: The Times of India, where Ojha works as the editor of Calcutta Times, said it had set up an inquiry to investigate the allegations. Ojha had been relocated to a different role.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Several women, including one journalist, has accused Jain of making unsolicited and unwanted sexual advances online.

Response: None.

Current Status: Jain resigned from Business Standard in the wake of the allegations. He previously worked at Scroll.in.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Several women have accused Verma, a former employee of Huffington Post, of sending explicit videos and images on Snapchat.

Response: He has apologised for his “problematic” conduct.

Current Status: Huffington Post said it will check if there were similar allegations while Verma worked there.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

At least two women have accused Shah, the Editor-in-Chief of The Kashmir Walla, of molesting them.

Response: He has denied the allegations.

Current Status: No action as yet.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

One woman has accused Bose of touching her inappropriately while they were studying at the Asian College of Journalism. Another has alleged that he “bullied and harassed” women, including her.

Response: He has apologised for his behaviour, “sexist comments, jibes and jokes”.

Current Status: The Quint, where Bose is employed, said it was gathering more details, even though no direct complaints have been made to the organisation.

Film and TV

Accusation: Rape, sexual assault and harassment

Writer and director Vinta Nanda has accused Alok Nath of raping her in the 1990s, while actors Navneet Nishan and Sandhya Mridul have accused him of sexual harassment.

Response: Nath denied the allegations and filed a defamation case against Nanda, with his wife’s support.

Current Status: The Cine And TV Artistes’ Association has issued a show cause notice to Nath.

Actor Alok Nath files defamation complaint against Vinta Nanda, who accused him of rape

Accusation: Sexual assault and harassment

A crew member has accused Bahl of assaulting her during the filming of Bombay Velvet in Goa in 2015, while actor Kangana Ranaut has accused him of sexual misconduct.

Response: He has sent a legal notice to his former business partners Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane for making “defamatory allegations” against him.

Current Status: Bahl’s former company, Phantom Films, announced its dissolution in response to the allegations.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Model and actor Kate Sharma filed a police complaint against Ghai for allegedly molesting her.

Response: Ghai denied the allegations, saying some people were trying to harm his reputation.

Current Status: No action as yet.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Casting director Tess Joseph has accused Kumar of sexually harassing her, while they were filming a TV show that he hosted around 19 years ago. Kumar, now a Kerala legislator, allegedly called Joseph’s hotel room a number of times and asked the hotel authorities to put her in a room next to his.

Response: He has denied the allegations.

Current Status: No action as yet.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Two women journalists alleged that Kapoor behaved inappropriately with them by sending lewd messages that were unsolicited in 2007. One woman also alleged that he tried to forcefully kiss her.

Response: He has apologised.

Current Status: No action as yet.

Accusation: Sexual assault and harassment

A journalist accused him of assaulting her and exposing his genitals while she was interviewing him in the early 2000s. Another woman alleged that he harassed her in 2011 when she was working as his assistant director.

Response: He said he was taking the “moral responsibility” and stepping down as the director of the under-production film Housefull 4 “till he can allay the allegations against him”.

Current Status: The Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association on Monday issued a showcause notice to Khan.

Directors’ body issues showcause notice to filmmaker Sajid Khan

Accusation: Sexual assault and harassment

Filmmaker Leena Manimekalai alleged Tamil film director Susi Ganesan offered to drop her home in his car in 2005 and then “forced her to accompany him to his apartment”. He only let her go when she took out a knife she carried for her protection.

Response: Ganesan denied the allegations. He called Manimekalai “immoral” and threatened to move court if she did not apologise.

Current Status: No action as yet.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

A woman anonymously accused Thithi co-writer Ere Gowda of sexual harassing her. Her allegation was made public by her friend who posted a Facebook post.

Response: No response

Current status: Zoo Entertainment, the producer of Gowda’s directorial debut, Balekempa, withdraw the film from Mumbai Film Festival.

Ere Gowda’s ‘Balekempa’ withdrawn from Mumbai Film Festival after sexual harassment allegation

Music

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Singer Chinmayi Sripaada alleged she was asked to meet the lyricist in his room while on a concert tour in Switzerland 10 years ago. Another musician recounted how Vairamuthu pursued her when she was 18.

Response: He has denied the allegations, describing them as part of an effort to “insult him”.

Current Status: No action as yet.

‘Vairamuthu came after me too. I stand by Chinmayi Sripaada,’ says musician Sindhuja Rajaram

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Singer Shweta Pandit accused music composer Malik of sexually harassing her when she was 15. The alleged incident took place in 2001, when Pandit visited Empire Studio in Mumbai’s Andheri for an audition.

Response: Malik has denied the allegations.

Current Status: He has stepped down as a judge on Indian idol.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Singer and musician Sona Mohapatra alleged Kher touched her inappropriately more than two years ago, during a meeting in Mumbai to discuss a forthcoming concert. Later, when she reached Dhaka for the concert, Mohapatra alleged Kher made repeated phone calls to her and asked her to join him in his hotel room.

Response: Kher said he was not aware of the incidents and expressed disappointed at the allegations.

Current Status: No action as yet.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

All seven musicians have been accused of sexual harassment. The allegations have been made anonymously by women.

Response: Chitravina player Ravikiran and vocalist OS Thyagarajan have denied the allegations.

Current status: The Madras Music Academy has dropped the seven musicians from the list of performers in the December music season.

#MeToo impact: Chennai’s Music Academy drops seven musicians from December cultural season

Comedy

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Several women have alleged Chakraborty sent unsolicited lewd text messages and sexually explicit images.

Response: He has apologised, saying he “can’t think of himself as a victim anymore.”

Current Status: Comedy group All India Bakchod took down their videos featuring Chakraborty.

Literature

Accusation: Sexual harassment

At least two women journalists have accused Nagarkar of touching them inappropriately or making them uncomfortable while they were interviewing him.

Response: He has denied the allegations, saying “I am capable of no such thing”.

Current Status: No action as yet.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Two women journalists accused Bhagat of harassing them. Leaked screenshots showed Bhagat sent text messages declaring to one journalist that he had decided to “woo” her since she was “sweet and cute and funny”. Writer Ira Trivedi said he tried to kiss her when she met him some years ago.

Response: Bhagat apologised to the woman journalist who shared screenshots of their exchange, saying he “misread the friendliness”. He countered Trivedi’s allegations by releasing an email she had sent him.

Current Status: No action as yet.

#MeToo: Author Ira Trivedi Calls Out Chetan Bhagat, Suhel Seth

Advertising

Accusation: Sexual assault and harassment

Seven women have publicly accused Seth of sexual misconduct, ranging from forcibly kissing and groping them to making sexualised comments and sending them inappropriate messages.

Response: None

Current Status: Tata Sons said it will prematurely end its contract with Seth’s firm.

Accusation: Sexual assault and harassment

Four advertising executives at the Dentsu Aegis Network were called out on social media for sexually inappropriate behaviour in the workplace ranging from lewd comments to inappropriate touching.

Response: Dasgupta released two statements. “I have a genuine problem with boundaries,” he said in his first statement, but later deleted it and apologised for his behaviour in a second statement. The other three haven’t publicly responded to the allegations.

Current Status: All four have stepped down from their positions.

Academia

Accusation: Sexual assault and harassment

In a public post on Facebook, independent journalist Surabhi Vaya alleged Mishra sexually assaulted her at his home two years ago.

Response: Mishra called the allegation “malicious and defamatory”. He said, “There’s absolutely nothing ever happened between us that can be termed as an ‘assault’, neither verbal, physical or sexual.”

Current Status: Mudra Institute of Communications, where Mishra is employed, said it had set up a special committee to investigate the allegations.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

A doctoral student accused the professor of making sexually coloured remarks and calling her relentlessly at night. Madras taught at the chemical engineering department at the Indian Institute of Science for 20 years.

Response: No response.

Current Status: The Institute asked Madras to leave after the governing council recommended disciplinary action against him.

#MeToo: IISc tells professor accused of sexual harassment to take compulsory retirement, says report

Art

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Four women have accused artist Jatin Das of making sexual advances when they met him for work. One of the women said Das tried to grab and kiss her in 2004. The other complained of a similar incident from 2013. A journalist recounted how Das tried to forcibly kiss her when she met him for an interview in the late 1990s.

Response: Das called the allegations “vulgar” and denied having met the women.

Current Status: No action as yet.

From Newspaper Interview to Kiss, Columnist Recounts Her Jatin Das Story

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Gupta was accused of sexual harassment by an anonymous person on Instagram. The complainant claimed they had worked with Gupta, and were surprised that no one had yet named him a “serial sexual harasser”.

Response: Gupta has denied the allegations. “I have never behaved in an inappropriate manner with any individual who worked with me and several of my former assistants can attest to this. These allegations are entirely false and fabricated.”

Current Status: He has resigned as the curator of the Serendipity Arts Festival.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

An art world professional alleged that Komu sexually harassed her. In an anonymous post on Instagram, the woman claimed that the artist pushed her against a wall and kissed her in October 2015.

Response: He has apologised. “I’m deeply upset that this incident has been understood and presented in this manner,” Komu said. “However, as the person has expressed hurt, I would like here to offer my apologies and I am opening myself to the possibility of a conversation.”

Current Status: Komu stepped down from all management positions at the Kochi Biennale Foundation, which organises an international art exhibition in Kerala.

Accusation: Sexual harassment

An art student Amaaya Dasgupta said Datawala molested her on two occasions in Mumbai in 2016 when she was 19 years old.

Response: He has apologised. He described the first incident as a “lapse in judgement” and claimed he immediately apologised after the woman made her discomfort known.

Current Status: Mumbai’s contemporary art gallery Tarq closed Datawala’s show in response to the allegations.

Non-Profit

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Former interns and fellows at Teach for India, a non-profit organisation working in government and low-income private schools, accused some of their managers of sexual harassment which included bullying, sexually-charged language and “inappropriate touching”.

Response: The organisation’s chief executive officer, Shaheen Mistri, emailed employees apologising for not acting swiftly against the complaints. Mistri had earlier asked fellows and staff not to air their grievances publicly.

Current Status: Teach for India sent the three employees on leave after the allegations emerged.

Update: The Grievance Redressal Committee within Teach for India conducted an inquiry against Dawda, the organisation’s human resources director said in a statement.

Based on the statements made by the complainant, Dawda and the witnesses, the committee concluded that the case for sexual harassment was not made out.

In light of the above finding made by the committee, Dawda was reinstated to his role as City Director, Bengaluru, without any consequence and with the same responsibilities and benefits, on December 24, 2018.

Hospitality industry

Accusation: Sexual harassment

Anjuli Pandit alleged the former Chief Executive Officer of Taj Hotels made inappropriate comments on her appearance and clothes, and propositioned her repeatedly while she worked as his executive assistant in 2009. Pandit said she confided in Taj Board members, but the resolution they offered was to ask her to resign from Taj Hotels.

Response: Sarna resigned from Taj Hotels in 2017. A spokesperson for The Indian Hotels Company Limited, which runs Taj Hotels, said the matter was investigated and “dealt with by an appropriate independent committee constituted for this purpose.”

Current status: No action yet.

#MeToo: Former Taj Hotels employee accuses ex-CEO Rakesh Sarna of sexual harassment

Sports

Accusation: Sexual harassment

A woman who worked with Johri in his previous job at Discovery Network has anonymously accused him of sexual assaulting her at his home. Johri is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Board for Control of Cricket in India.

Response: No response.

Current status: Johri has been cleared by the Board a three-member panel of Delhi Commission of Women chairperson Barkha Singh, retired Justice, Rakesh Sharma and lawyer Veena Gowda.

We welcome your comments at letters@scroll.in.

India’s #MeToo: Some of the sexual harassment charges that have surfaced since October

These 49 names span the worlds of journalism, film and TV, music, literature, art, sports, non-profits and advertising.

Journalism

Film and TV

Music

Comedy

Literature

Advertising

Academia

Art

Non-Profit

Hospitality industry

Sports