The #MeToo movement in India has gained traction and exposed some prominent names from Bollywood and media industry. The sexual harassers are being named, shamed and blamed and eventually losing out on job and plump projects. The #MeToo movement in India started when Tanushree Dutta accused Nana Patekar of sexual harassment on the sets of the 2008 film Horn OK Pleasss. Soon the names of Alok Nath, Sajid Khan, Rajat Kapoor, Kailash Kher, Vikas Bahl, Subhash Ghai started coming out. Even veteran journalist Vinod Dua was also accused of sexual harassment allegations by filmmaker Nishtha Jain.
Days after the allegations of Nishta, Dua finally responded to it. On a show that he hosts Jan Gan Man Ki Baat, he called the allegations as “Muck” on the show. On his show, he said, “this muck/allegation of sexually harassing someone can be thrown at anyone, be it a pope, a judge, a lawyer, a priest, an innocent man or a doctor.” He dismissed the allegations against him saying that they are baseless and the figment of someone’s imagination.
[caption id="attachment_150108" align="aligncenter" width="647"] Nishtha Jain and Vinod Dua[/caption]
Earlier, in an elaborate post on Facebook, Nishtha had narrated her ordeal and claimed that Dua had harassed her in June 1989. In her post, she wrote that she met him for the first time when he took her interview for a political satire show that he was supposed to host.
https://www.facebook.com/nishthajain.216/posts/10156830464504680
Dua is the latest name to be added to the sexual perpetrators’ list that already features quite a few notable names. Refuting allegations is one thing but making a mockery of the entire movement is something that Dua should not have done as it only shows him in a worse light. Many Bollywood stars have shown their solidarity to the movement and supported the survivors.