Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray called veteran actor Nana Patekar “indecent” but maintained that he believes the actor-activist who is accused of sexual harassment by actor Tanushree Dutta to be innocent. Tanushree has alleged that Nana sexually harassed and intimidated her on the sets of the 2008 film Horn Ok Pleasss and even sent goons from the MNS party to attack and intimidate her.
Talking about Nana at an event in Amravati, Thackeray said, “I know Nana Patekar. He is indecent. He does crazy things but I don't think he can do such a thing. Court will look into it. What is the media to do with it? #MeToo is a serious matter, the debate over it on Twitter isn't right.”
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MNS chief Raj Thackeray[/caption]
He called the #MeToo movement a serious matter and said that it should not be debated on Twitter. He said that the movement might have been fuelled to divert attention from skyrocketing petrol prices, dip in rupee value against dollar and unemployment in the country. He further said that his party will be happy to provide justice to any woman who faces anything unwarranted but they should raise their voice when the incident happened and not wait for ten years to come forward. Thackeray conveniently forgot that Tanushree had claimed that it was his party workers who intimidated and damaged her car on the sets of the film.
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Nana Patekar and Tanushree Dutta[/caption]
Following Tanushree’s allegations, many women have come forward and named their harassers. Several big celebrities like Sajid Khan, Vikas Bahl, Rajat Kapoor, Alok Nath, Kailash Kher, Subhash Ghai have been named as sexual harassers.
