India’s #MeToo: Journalists, Comics Accused of Sexual Harassment

You can’t blame mental health conditions for your actions, say Twitter users.

YouTuber and comic Utsav Chakraborty has found himself in the eye of a storm for multiple allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against him. A well-known face in the industry, Utsav is associated with Indian comedy sketch group All India Bakchod (AIB) and was flagged on Twitter by a user after he ironically condemned the reported misconduct of Indian men on a certain cruise.

Since then, he has been slammed by many, including fellow comedians. The Twitter user who accused him said:

“Saw this on my timeline, interesting for you to comment on how Indian men harass women. Irony is still alive and thriving. Did they send unsolicited dick picks or that’s safely only your territory?”

Twitter user who was the first one to call Utsav Chakraborty out. 

Is That Even An Apology?

Utsav made an attempt to apologise for his actions in a long Twitter thread, but received further flak by Tweeple for what most described as a ‘nopology’.

Here is one such tweet that received quite a lot of backlash:

Again it doesn't absolve me of my constant terrible judgement. But there is more to what is being said. And this all too much for me to process. Till this day, my biggest concern was figuring out how to pay for my weekly injections.

— Utsav (@Wootsaw) October 4, 2018

In his apology, the point people objected to the most was his use of mental health issues as a reason for his actions. Twitter users were enraged when the comic tried to shift the blame and pointed out the fact that his claims undermine individuals who are suffering from mental health issues.

You know how women keep telling men that they don't want ifs and buts but accountability in apology statements? Well now they're learning. They're taking notes on how to better their defenses through the same malicious wordplay that they've exercised forever.

— Sukhnidh🌿 (@skhndh) October 4, 2018

Agree completely. It was such a malicious nopology

— sangeeta chakravorty (@chakravortys) October 5, 2018

I can't believe you use Lupus as a defence for sexually harassing women. For your lack of basic empathy. I have Lupus and I'm aghast you're using your illness so frivolously. If anything, my illness has taught me to be more kind and empathetic. Shame. What you say, shame.

— Aanchal luthra (@chhoddoaanchal) October 4, 2018

“Again, Where is the Apology?”

The prblm is your whole thread focusses on how you must hv hurt sme women in love/similar lines. When its clearly not that. you violated them, berated them. None of the women is saying she wanted you to talk to her... they are all saying you violated them .

— Eisha Tomar (@Eisha_Tomar) October 4, 2018

Is this an apology? Because noone can find one in your 'statement'.

— Vandita Morarka (@vanditamorarka) October 4, 2018

You're not sorry about the fact that you were the perpetrator of systematic harrasment. You're sorry you got publically called out.

— Aanchal (@ad_libthoughts) October 4, 2018

The Bigger Picture

Following the initial allegations against Chakraborty, more women have spoken up and written about their ordeal – how they were harassed by the comic. In the light of the #MeToo movement, Twitter users also celebrated the strength of every woman who’s come forward and confronted those guilty of sexual misconduct.

I really worry for the mental health of women who not only have to go through the gripping anxiety of calling someone out in public but also have to listen to the stories of other women in similar situations.

— Krupa Ge (@krupage) October 4, 2018

This is awful. We have to do better and listen, learn and improve. This is so dispiriting to read that I can’t imagine how degrading it must have been to receive. https://t.co/IaiPLd2iWo

— Kautuk Srivastava (@Cowtuk) October 4, 2018

After reading a lot about Utsav Chakraborty’s creepy behavior, all of it makes so much sense. First things do not judge a book by its cover. Maybe not at all men but a %age of men have & carry around a sense of entitlement n privilege just because they are men.

— Smriti Kannan Advait (@SmritiKannan_AD) October 4, 2018

While it was already disturbing to read about updates on how #TanushreeDutta was sexually harassed by #NanaPatekar, Utsav Chakraborty has been accused of sexual harassment.

Does Money, Power and Fame really make you stoop down to this level? Appalling.

— Divya Vinekar (@WannabeSanyasin) October 4, 2018

Sending Unsolicited Nudes Is Not OK!

The user's tweet led to other instances of misconduct being called out:

Phantom Film Shuts Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations

Anurag Kashyap tweeted on 6 October that Phantom Films, a production company started by him along with Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikas Bahl and producer Madhu Mantena in 2011, has now folded up.

The production house and its partners came under the scanner in 2015 much before the #MeToo movement gathered momentum or Tanushree Dutta spoke up against Nana Patekar. A woman crew member accused Queen director Vikas Bahl of sexually assaulting her during a promotional tour of the then readying-to-release Bombay Velvet. No steps were actually taken by Phantom Films against Bahl.

However, now the survivor and Anurag Kashyap in interviews to Huffington Post, have opened up about the incident once more. The survivor has shared the horrific experience she went through with Bahl following which he kept harassing her till she quit the organisation, and how when she shared it with Kashyap, he didn’t really do anything about it. Others too corroborated her story.

These are just a few among the many allegations springing up online. More and more voices are speaking up, even as we write this. Time’s up?