Men accused of sexual harassment serve limited shame time?

IllustrationsUday MohiteThis writer tried to reach Khodu Irani this week Our calls and WhatsApp messages to the Punebased restaurateur and owner of Koregaon Parks High Spirits pub have gone unanswered Irani will not comment on an incident from October 2017 when his reputation was shorn publicly after he was called out for misogyny and bullying by a Twitter user Right after an exemployee blogged about being groped and body shamed There werent two but several Scores of Facebook posts by women came right after calling out the blatant harassment one of them alleging a beer was emptied on her head for complaining to his wifeA gig at Khodu Iranis High SpiritsHis mother corporator Moti Irani who had claimed she would be the first to punish him if the allegations were true sent us a curt not interested when we asked to speak to her about how things had unfolded since A scan of the High Spirits FB page revealed that the musician community many of its members having sworn never to play there had gone back to performing at weekly gigsA still from one of TVFs biggest hits Permanent RoommatesNothing has changed Perhaps the numbers arent as high as they used to be but people are still coming in for gigs and flea markets The place is being managed by a bunch of women now and everything is under control said a regular customer who participated in a recent flea He comes in every day takes key decisions but is keeping a low profile He has enough support to see him though Its a small city and everyone knows what happened but that hasnt spoiled things for him said another longtime Pune residentMay we assume then that Mumbai spoken word poet Kommunes Shamir Reuben who was accused last week of sexual harassment will be back on his feet too The fellow poets and event organisers we spoke to said they wanted to have nothing to do with him In short his career was close to over But is it Those tracking developments around media entrepreneur Arunabh Kumar will say no The founder and CEO of The Viral Fever TVF and online entertainment source faced multiple sexual harassment accusations in March 2017 after a female blogger alleged abuse and molestation over two years The chargesheet filed by the MIDC police in the case mentioned a video production executive hired to shoot a promotional feature with Kumar saying he had touched her tattoo called it sexy and had told her you are so hot ya Kumar was arrested in April and released on bail In June that year he announced on Twitter that he was stepping down as CEO but had faith and confidence that eventually truth will prevailWhen this writer reached out to Kumar he ignored her WhatsApp messages and finally blocked her number Most others including actors who had worked in hit TVF shows said we have nothing to say The apprehension among former colleagues harassment survivors and industry insiders was clear Then a production hand at TVF who agreed to speak to us anonymously said Inside the doors of TVF his sexual harassment case is a forgotten story Arunabh is active at work We meet him a good three to four times a week He participates in concept development and approvals There is no denying that he is extremely sharp Whenever we are done with the final drafts of scripts he takes a narration and suggests tweaks Its a pleasure to work with him From what I know female employees are comfortable around himA female staffer calls him courteous and fun although the ghost of the case follows him I had heard all those stories but I havent faced a problem myself I am new to the system though The biggest challenge right now I sense is to revive the reputation of TVF He is on top of scripts and stories commissioning new concepts and finetuning sequels of popular shows A lot of old hands have refused to work with him given the controversy so he has the uphill task of reviving the brand They have investors to answer to after all With Reuben the social media trial may have graver consequences because his career hinged on it The ramifications have been disastrous Social media acceptance had made him who he was He isnt the one to work backstage he needs the attention says a close friendReuben hit the news for notsonice reasons when 19yearold poet Sakina Bootwala accused him of sexting her This was followed rapidly by other young women who said me too Rueben on his part offered a weak apology again on social media claiming he didnt think it was inappropriate to talk friends in that manner A poet friend who has snapped ties with him since says He had the chance to present his side but he didnt It is his influence among the youth on social media after all that he leveraged to exercise control and do all this inappropriate conversationsBootwala who we inquired with about making an official complaint said she no longer wished to comment on the matter Lifestyle blogger Sheena Dabholkar who had first called out Iranis behaviour says she is not surprised that Bootwala chose not to approach the police Its a lonely journey I too had approached a lot of survivors but none of them wanted to file a complaint I think telling the story was justice enough None of us wanted to spend time in the justice system mdash its a lot of work and its expensive see boxThat Irani and Reuben have been lucky that none of the survivors chose to approach the police means they can get on with their lives Has corporate India failed to take a tough stand against those accused of sexual abuseMeghna Pant Mumbaibased writer and advocate of gender rights says when a sexual harassment incident becomes public it is important for the accused and his organisation to cooperate with investigative agencies We also need checks and balances Every organisation should comply with the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace POSH policy and HR should run a background check on candidates Our lawmakers also need to set an example by holding the accused accountable like they did with Tarun Tejpal by formally accusing him of rape If they do the crime they must do the timeVikram Shroff employment law partner at Nishith Desai and Associates makes the classic legal claim when he says you are innocent until proven guilty If the complaint has not been proven and the accuseddefendant is cleared legally and ethically he has the right to return to his position and must be treated fairly This is however easier said than done he saysMeghna Pant author and gender rights advocateMetoo is pointless Its like making hot tea and forgetting to drink itAs a community we tend to offer impunity to men who err We lack the moral courage to take a stand against powerful men rich men goodlooking men Instead we condone them Why are we then surprised when men like Mahesh Murthy brazenly deny any wrongdoing despite complaints from several women He calls his arrest a procedural technical arrest What about Phaneesh Murthy who is now a nonexecutive director at Cigniti What about Arunabh Kumar who is expected to reprise his role of Yogi in Pitchers 2 since TVF expects the matter to cool down by then Women too speak up too little or too late They are reluctant to file police complaints because they dont want to waste years making the rounds of police stations and courts They understandably want to forget the unsavory incident and move on with their lives metoo makes no sense beyond a point Its like making hot tea and forgetting to drink it Women must walk the talk if they expect men to do the sameSheena Dabholkar lifestyle blogger who first called out Irani for sexual harassment in multiple tweets dated October 11 2017Social media serves as some sort of justice systemI heard somewhere that Khodu has got himself a lawyer who represents a top celebrity So you can imagine how tough this is for the women Social media offers both sides a the chance to respond It also works to shake up the perpetrators Nothing much has changed though since the women came out against Irani Khodus wife runs the place now One of my friends has recently played as a sessions musician there and to him it made no difference what had happened although at the time of the controversy he had supported the women survivors They the Iranis and the establishment never even acknowledged what happened Everyone thinks time will heal but it doesntCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates