Mumbai: Shamir Rueben allegedly asked underage girls to send him nude photos

Shamir RuebenOn Wednesday all hell broke lose in the poetry and spoken word community around 330 pm Sakina Bootwala 19 put a up status message on Facebook accusing poetry star Shamir Reuben 23 of sexually harassing her on another social media platform called Askfm when she was 16 Bootwala also attached screenshots of other women who had reached out to her recounting being similarly abused by ReubenPoet Shamir RuebenAfter Bootwala posted her well thoughtout and articulated statement she started getting messages from multiple women who had similar experiences to share about Reuben Most had communicated with him on Askfm which encouraged questions to be submitted anonymously Their interactions with him flowed in a similar manner he initiated graphic sexual texting and asked the underage girls to send him nude photos For some it went beyond the internet as they claimed hed forcibly kissed themAlso read Mumbai Sexual harassment allegations against slam poetry starMany even sent screenshots of their chats with him to Bootwala which she then put up online When midday spoke to Bootwala she said had not imagined that his misconduct was this common and widespread ndash at last count she had received almost 6070 messages with more additions on the hourSeen as an inspirationBefore working with Kommune started by actor Roshan Abbas VJ Gaurav Kapur and musician Ankur Tewari Reuben has been a vital part of content creation teams at Star Sports story producer and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited digital content writerIshmeet Nagpal and Rochelle DsilvaIn the poetry circuit he was seen as an inspiration especially for his issuecentric poems much like his 2016 one titled I dont want a daughter anymore which was dedicated to Nirbhaya His social media stance on supporting womens causes like MeToo and being vocal about the respect women deserve made his image as that of a feminist one of the good guysCant tolerate thisShamir had sold the good guy persona says Aranya Johar 19 Bootwalas close friend who gained popularity for her A Brown Girls Guide To Gender video It took Johar a year to convince Bootwala to come out in public with her experience It was not my story to tell but I had been urging her for a year Her sister is 16 now and I just asked her Sakina would you be fine with Shamir talking to her like this and that line did it for her and she posted it Johar admits to being livid and says that the poetry space often called a safe space cannot be seen as a community that doesnt take action against perpetrators in their own midstSimar Singh of UnErase Poetry and Baljeet Singh Ghai of The HabitatShe added He was so popular that women have invalidated their own experiences ndash no he seems like such a nice guy maybe I misunderstood Even Sakina was told no he couldnt have done that Everyone was conditioned to believe he was a good guy Nobody said anything and that silence was almost like encouraging him She is also insistent about the poetry circuits notolerance stance Our target audience is 1216 We just cannot tolerate this at all Its our responsibility to provide safetyCant act without evidenceBalraj Singh Ghai of The Habitat at Khar a popular venue for spoken word events in the city said they have been shocked since the revelations came out We hope that the legal machinery decides what has to be done because it is easy to character assassinate online these daysThat being said we think there has to be a middle ground Its unfair to act without evidence but no sympathy should be given to this We need for this to be solved legally But giving someone a stage is like giving them a pedestal and so till their character is cleared we cant do that Its for their own good as well said GhaiThere is no excuseKhushboo Balwani Rawal who cofounded the Microfiction Fan Fest and had Reuben on as a panellist said We have known Shamir for over a year and he has been nothing but extremely sweet and helpful Not once did he come across as someone capable of doing what he has been accused of He has been one of those good guys until last evening Although after this our guard is up and we will make an effort to keep this community a better and safer environment for everyone However We would want to hear his side of the story before we draw conclusions There could be more or less to this but we would want to know it allNo space for ShamirOther poets are clear that even though they are waiting for the legal machinery to kick in right now Reuben cant continue to be a part of the circuit Poet Ishmeet Nagpal said misogyny and sexism have been common in the space Many male poets read poems that attack feminism and even though for a while it rankles us people eventually forget about the incident Here you really cant separate the art from the artist and he shouldnt have space in this safe spaceSimar Singh the founder and curator of UnErase Poetry is in a sad state right now because Reuben was an inspiration the reason I got into poetry Its very tough to process We need to ensure the right legal action is taken As much as I looked up to him I wouldnt be comfortable performing on a stage with him or offer him a space anymore said Singh Another poet Rochelle Dsilva said I am very thankful for the women who have spoken up and for everyone who has shown their support and solidarity Not to take away from the outcome and what is going to happen now but naming and shaming a predator or someone who has assaulted you is really hard to doA harder decisionBut some have had a harder time making a decision Poet Harnidh Kaur who is hugely popular on Instagram for her hardhitting words and happens to be a close friend of Reuben said that she would lose a friendship because I value the idea of doing the right thing much much more She put out a post asking women who have faced harassment by Reuben to come to her with evidence and statements so they could all collectively go and file an FIR In the end the community seems unequivocally saying that Reuben will need to pay for his sins at least for right now As Singh said I saw this post by another poet on Facebook and it makes absolute sense if we dont hold our heroes accountable we wont have the right heroesShamir saysShamir Reuben put up this post on Facebook which said A lot has been said in the past day about me If any of my messages or actions may have made Sakina or any other woman uncomfortable I want to apologise profusely for any discomfort felt because of me I genuinely do not believe my messages or actions would cause them hurt and I sincerely hope that I can be forgiven by all those I may have inadvertently wrongedSeveral things said are an incorrect portrayal of past events during 20132016 and the messages shared form part of longer conversations The women to whom I sent those messages were my friends most of who I knew over months and even years and messages between friends when read out of context often portray an incorrect picture of the true nature of events These messages when viewed today are indeed inappropriate but were never intended to cause harm to any woman I wish Sakina and all the women who have spokenup well and I respect them for raising this important issue Violence of any form against women should not be tolerated But I have not and never intended to harm or harass them in any wayConsequences begin for ReubenSince the post was put up Story Fest Chandigarh has cancelled Reubens appearance and Kommune has put up a Facebook status that read Kommune recognises that posts have been shared about Shamir Reubens past conduct with certain individuals We acknowledge and respect the individuals who are speaking up about these issues The allegations made are of serious concern to us and constitutes unacceptable behaviour by any of our personnel Pending enquiry into these allegations Shamirs role at Kommune will remain suspended When midday got in touch with Abbas he said Kommune has made its stand clear and has suspended him pending investigationPromise it will never happen againSakina Bootwala told midday When I put up the post yesterday I expected a backlash Shamir has always said the right things to make everyone believe he is a nice guy And if you look up to someone you dont want to believe they did something like this But the response has been overwhelmingly supportive My phone hasnt stopped ringing Most comments have been positive except a few who have asked for evidence and thats fine I am not stupid to accuse someone falsely and as we continue to see so many more cases have come up I really didnt think this issue would become so big and that so many women would have had the same experience Some of these girls were his friends and he hasnt even spared them I just want him to publicly admit it apologise and promise it will never happen ever again He also shouldnt make anyone feel guilty about coming out with itCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news current affairs from Mumbai local news crime news 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