Mounting trouble for TVF’s Arunabh, allegations denied
A series of mixed replies and confrontations have been witnessed after Arunabh Kumar, the founder of online content company The Viral Fever (TVF), has been accused of molestation. On Sunday, an anonymous letter was posted on an online portal Medium by an ex-female employee of TVF which stated that Kumar allegedly molested her on several occasions during her tenure at the firm.
Following this letter, a number of replies were posted on the same site where other female employees shared their stories of molestation while a few other people questioned the authenticity of the letter and the complainant. The same trend was witnessed on social media where a number of people came ahead and posted their opinions on Twitter and Facebook. Some responses were in favour of TVF whiles others against them.
The letter highlighted various instances of molestation during work interactions. It stated, “Right from Pitchers to Tripling, I was molested. Be it in parties where Arunabh would try to lift me or would try and fall on me pretending he is drunk.”
TVF gave an official response stating that the article was completely ludicrous and defamatory against TVF and its team. It read, “All the allegations made against TVF and its team in the article are categorically false, baseless and unverified. We take a lot of pride in our team and in making TVF a safe workplace that is equally comfortable for women and men.”
Also, Nidhi Bisht, a writerdirector with TVF, posted on Facebook that TVF would launch an investigation into the claims. Kumar has denied all these allegations and is ready to address all of them. He is also prepared for a police complaint and wishes to respond legally.
Meanwhile, filmmaker Hansal Mehta, film editor Apurva Asrani and comedians Mallika Dua, Tanmay Bhat and Rohan Joshi have expressed concern over implementation of rules against harassment at workplace after sexual harassment charges were levelled against Arunabh Kumar, CEO of the digital entertainment start-up The Viral Fever (TVF).
It all started when a female 'staffer' under the pseudonym Indian Fowler posted a blog at medium.com, accusing Kumar of sexual advances at the workplace, and his several attempts to exploit her. In the response section, another female employee shared her ordeal at TVF, saying that she "had to face a similar experience while working there. I felt exploited and cheated and I left my job under very bad circumstances".
Mehta says harassment at workplace must be denounced. "Whether it is sexual, mental or the result of a person's perceived power over the other," Mehta tweeted.
Stand-up comedienne Aditi Mittal tweeted: "Silence from the comedy community is deafening. Everyone still texting contacts/verifying facts in spite of hearing stories about it for years? And that my friends is why 'there are so few female comics' a question that I get constantly asked as if I should have the ans to the ques."