Soon after #MeToo allegations surfaced against Kolkata dramatist Sudipto Chatterjee, musician and member of the acclaimed band Mohiner Ghoraguli, Ranjon Ghoshal, has also been called out for sexual harassment on social media.
At least two women have taken to social media to narrate instances of sexual harassment by the musician.
Speaking to The Times Of India (TOI), a 50-year-old media personality said:
“I used to call him kaku and he knew me since I was 10. He was my father’s friend. It was in 2003-2004 when I started working with him and saw his true colour. One of my female colleagues and I were asked by our channel to work with Ranjon Ghoshal. We used to visit his office-cum-guest house. On a certain occasion, I was asked by one of his staff members to meet him. I went and realised that there was no one present in the office barring him. He asked me to sit beside him on the sofa. I was sure he could do no harm to me as he had known me for many years. But I was in for a shock when he started touching me. As I cringed, he held me from behind and started rubbing his bearded face on my shoulder. I immediately reacted and fell on the carpet. Somebody rang the bell and I took my bag and ran away.”
Soon after the incident, the woman went to court, and pursued the case for a year, only to withdraw it after Ranjon issued a letter.
When asked, why she is bringing up the case again, the woman told TOI that she recently got to know about another incident that Ranjon was involved in through social media.
“I wanted everyone to be aware of this man’s perversions”, she said.
Another woman also took to Facebook to say that Ghoshal had “solicited sexual relations” with her.
Responding to TOI, Ghoshal called the social media posts an “act of vengeance”. She used to work with me and I rebuked her once in public. I think her allegations were an act of vengeance. I don’t want to say any bad things against her. Her father is a dear friend and even he did not want to pursue the matter”, he told the paper.
Later in a Facebook post, Ghoshal wrote:
“ I seek forgiveness. I know that my words and behaviour have crossed some people’s personal space. And for that I tender an unconditional apology. I need to improve myself. No one should feel insecure in my presence, and in that matter I’m going to be more careful now. 15 years ago, a young woman had accused me of obscene behaviour. That matter was heard and set aside by the courts. Now a decade-and-a-half later, she has brought this up on social media. In this context, while having a telephonic conversation with a print media outlet, I said a few things out of aggression. That was wrong. In fact, I seek forgiveness from whoever I have ever misbehaved with. I express my heartfelt regret and seek forgiveness from all of them.”
The Quint has reached out to Ghoshal in order to get his version of events. This copy will be updated as and when he chooses to respond.
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