Journalist Mayank Jain, accused of sexual harassment, resigned as principal correspondent of Business Standard on Tuesday, 9 October.
Jain was accused of making unwarranted sexual advances and harassment amid the recent storm of allegations in India’s #MeToo movement.
Drawing strength from the online naming and shaming of comic and YouTuber Utsav Chakraborty, at least two women took to Twitter to call out and accuse Mayank Jain, a journalist at Business Standard, for indecency and sexually harassment.
A former journalist with Scroll.in and BloombergQuint, Jain was accused of sexual harassment in 2017 as well.
On Friday, 5 October, a female journalist called Jain a “sexual predator” – adding that she had been at the “receiving end of this man’s unwelcome sexual predations” (sic).
‘A Sexual Predator’
She added, in her Twitter thread, that Jain was called out by another woman on Twitter last year in 2017 as well for making unwanted sexual advances.
‘Jain Violated My Consent’
Jain had apologised on Twitter in 2017 for his behaviour after sexual harassment allegations were levelled against him.
‘I Was in College When He Asked Me To Rent a Room With Him’
Another female journalist shared WhatsApp screenshots of her conversation with Jain, in which he sent unsolicited sexually explicit messages.
BloombergQuint released a statement saying:
We are deeply troubled to hear that such misbehaviour and harassment may have occurred at a work-related event in December 2016. Unfortunately, as no complaint was made, we had no way of taking any action against the person involved. Even the slightest reference (that something of this nature had occurred) would have prompted immediate corrective action. BloombergQuint has a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual harassment in the workplace and we are horrified that any team member of ours would have to face such unpleasantness and ugly behaviour from a colleague. We wish the female journalist would have given us a chance to stand up for her and all other women in the workplace. Since neither person is an employee at this point no action on our part is possible.Statement from BloombergQuint
On Thursday, 4 October, Chakraborty, a former actor with comedy collective, All India Bakchod, was accused of sexual harassment and of sending unsolicited sexual messages to unsuspecting women, including minors.
The allegations against him have sparked a similar moment of reckoning against harassers in various industries, including the media.
(This is a developing story. We will update this with more survivor stories and as and when Mayank Jain gives a statement.)
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