'He tried to feel me up; first, my back and then the front'

Arunabh KumarOnline digital entertainment channel The Viral Fever TVF has come under the scanner after its founder and CEO Arunabh Kumar was accused of sexual harassment by an exemployee in an anonymous blog post Thereafter a string of skeletons have been tumbling out of the TVF closet even as the company labels the post now viral ludicrous defamatory and unverified The channel is popular for quirky comic videos such as Qtiyapa Barely Speaking with Arnub and web shows TVF Pitchers and Permanent Roommatesmidday editorial Lets make the workplace a safe haven for allTitled The Indian Uber ndash That is TVF the tellall account written under the pseudonym of Indian Fowler seems to have drawn inspiration from exUber employee Susan Fowlers post on sexual harassment at the San Franciscobased companyThe 24yearold begins by saying Arunabh molested her for the first time when she joined the company in 2014 after that it became a routine affair Arunabh would try to lift me or would try and fall on me pretending he is drunk sic she alleges When she threatened to go to the cops Arunabhs apparent retort was Police to meri pocket mein hai While she quit in 2016 TVFs legal team allegedly continues to send her reminders about breach of contract leading to worry that she is still being trackedA still from TVFs show Permanent RoommatesAs her post went viral shared and retweeted by netizens at least three more exemployees shared similar experiences Reema Sengupta who worked on a web series with Arunabh shared a horrifying account of an encounter with him on FacebookA former employee opened up to midday on the condition of anonymity When I got my first project as an assistant TVF seemed like the coolest workplace But the dream run ended soon I was compelled to go to office on a Sunday for an emergency meeting Only Arunabh was there I must admit I have never liked the man There was something about him that made my skin crawl Maybe it was overt PDA the touching and hugging Initially I saw it as a work quirk and gave them the benefit of doubtRead Story Hinduja Hospital staffer booked after asking woman for sexual favoursBut that day during an intense chat about work he tried to feel me up first my back and then the front I punched him and ran Office records conveniently didnt have CCTV footage I could have brought it up then but in a mans world does a womans word count I will not raise a complaint as I dont feel safe sharing the information But I hope for the worst for himSome claimed TVF does not have an HR or anti sexual harassment policies committee to deal with such incidents However the spokesperson clarified to a website Youth Ki Awaaz TVF complies with all applicable labour laws takes sexual harassment complaints seriously and processes the same in accordance with law We have an inhouse HR and legal department supported by a panel of top external law firmsWhile Arunabh did not respond to calls TVF spokesperson issued a statement that read All allegations made against TVF and its team in the article are categorically false baseless and unverified We take pride in making TVF a safe workplace that is equally comfortable for women and men We will leave no stone unturned to find the author of the article and bring them to severe justice for making such false allegations It is our humble request that you do not share an unsubstantiated unverified and anonymous article such as thisWriteractor Nidhi Bisht a TVF insider who has known Arunabh for the last eight years calls him a father figure and mentor I dont think he can do something like this with any female employee The allegation is fictitiousActress Maanvi Gagroo who was seen in TVFs show Tripling says My experience of working with TVF has been wonderful Arunabh has been like a brother to me As of 2016 TVF has 70odd employees Last year Tiger Global Management reportedly invested 10 million in it picking up minority stake of 25 per cent Its value is pegged at R270 crore The money was put into its parent company Contagious Online Media Network integrated in July 2015