(This story from The Quint’s archives is being republished as TVF CEO Arunabh Kumar steps down after sexual harassment allegations were levelled against him in March. It was originally published on 15 March.)
On Sunday, an anonymous post on Medium narrated how Arunabh Kumar, founder and CEO of online video channel TVF, had sexually harassed a young female employee for more than two years. On monday, several other women, including an ex-employee and freelancers who had worked for TVF, came forward to say that they too had been molested, mostly by Kumar.
Groping, sexual advances, inappropriate talk — you name it, and the 35-year-old TVF CEO appears to be guilty of it.
The question is, will Arunabh Kumar face the music for his alleged misdeeds? Don’t bet on it.
Ready to Address All Allegations: Arunabh Kumar
Needless to say, Kumar, an IIT-Kharagpur alumnus and thus far a shining example of a young techie striking start-up gold, has been denying the charges strenuously.
Social media has already declared me an offender, but I am ready to address all the allegations against me. I am open to receiving a police complaint so that I can respond legally as well.Arunabh Kumar to Mumbai Mirror
What Does The Law Say?
However, if the writer of the Medium post was too scared or embarrassed to reveal her name, is it likely that she would go to the police to file a complaint? Indeed, the whole point of the Sexual Harassment of Women At Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, is to root out such cases by creating an enabling environment for women to complain and get redressal in the workplace itself.
Why should the girl have to go to the police when she clearly does not want to? The case should have been investigated by the internal complaints committee in the workplace or the district-level complaints committee.Vrinda Grover, Senior Lawyer and Women’s Rights Activist
Vishaka Guidelines, 1997
The law against sexual harassment in the workplace, which codified the 1997 Vishaka Guidelines by the Supreme Court, stipulates that any organisation with 10 or more employees must form an internal complaints committee (ICC) to deal with charges of sexual harassment. The committee is to be headed by a woman, at least half of its members are to be women, and it should have one external member from an NGO or a body familiar with issues of sexual harassment.
Did TVF have such a committee in place? One to which the young woman who claims to have been serially molested by Kumar could have gone with her complaint? (According to the law, the complaint must be filed within three months of the act of harassment, though there is a provision to relax the time limit at the discretion of the ICC.)
The Quint’s email query to TVF in this regard went unanswered. But consider what another ex-employee of TVF said to The Quint when asked how her complaint of sexual harassment against a colleague was dealt with.
They later held a meeting and heard both of us out. And then they told me, ‘What can we do? It’s just your word against his. We can’t fire him because you’re telling us this.’
If this account is true, it certainly doesn’t sound like the proceedings of an ICC.
If the company does not have an ICC, that is straightaway a violation of the law and can attract punitive measures, including a monetary penalty of Rs 50,000.Mrinal Satish, Associate Professor at National Law University, Delhi
Satish points out that even at this stage the writer of the Medium post, who says she worked with the company from 2014 to 2016, could go to the local complaints committee, which is set up by the district officer. She could also file a criminal complaint under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with outraging the modesty of a woman. That would immediately kick off an investigation into the charges against Arunabh Kumar.
But here’s the thing. She cannot file a complaint under either law without revealing her identity.
The police could take suo motu cognisance of the blog post, but it is pointless to register an FIR without knowing the identity of the victim.Mrinal Satish
When More Complaints Began to Pour In
What of the girls who have narrated their experience of being felt up by Kumar? In a Facebook post, Reema Sengupta, a filmmaker, described in nauseating detail the way Kumar allegedly touched her repeatedly during a shoot for TVF.
She and others who have come out with similar tales about Kumar could also file complaints, since the law extends to anyone who visits the premises of an organisation and experiences sexual harassment there.
TVF could, of course, institute an internal enquiry into the charges against its CEO. For the probe to be fair, Kumar needs to step down. But let’s face it, even if he does, what are the odds that it would be a fair verdict?
“Duniya Hai. Hota hai.”
In 2013 Tarun J Tejpal, former editor of Tehelka, had stepped down with much fanfare and purple prose apparently to aid the internal probe into allegations of sexual misconduct against him. That enquiry was going nowhere till the Goa police ramped up the case and slammed a non-bailable rape charge against him.
Sexual harassment in the workplace is primarily about the abuse of power – usually by a superior over his subordinate. It takes a lot for a traumatised victim to muster the courage to bring it to notice and seek redress. Because she fears being mocked, she fears reprisal and losing her livelihood.
In the Medium post, the girl writes that when she went to Naveen Kasturia, an actor with works with TVF, and told him about Kumar’s relentless unwanted attention, he laughed it off and said, “Duniya Hai. Hota hai.”
This is your rotten duniya, Mr Kasturia, not ours. And while one respects the victim’s right to remain anonymous, one wishes that someone will be inspired by her post to make the necessary formal complaint against Kumar. Otherwise, it will be one more man making sure that the duniya favours only men.
(The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi. She can be reached @ShumaRaha. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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