TVF Arunabh Kumar ABSCONDING;2nd victim files FIR

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"We have received a complaint from a woman and a FIR has been registered under section 354 (sexual harassment) and 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC against Arunabh Kumar," a police official said.

The blog post was widely shared on social media leading to several women - both anonymously and otherwise - sharing similar experiences of harassment by Kumar.

Following the outrage, the Mumbai Police encouraged the alleged victim to come forward without fear and promised prompt action. A city-based lawyer, Rizwan Siddiquee, also approached the MIDC police station with a written complaint to file an FIR, but police refused to do so until a victim came forward

Within a few hours of the Medium blog going viral, more women came forward in support of The Indian Fowler and shared their personal (horrific) encounters with Arunabh Kumar.

Aayushi Agarwal, who claimed to be a former TVF employee, commented on the Medium blog saying, "I have had to face a similar experience working there. I felt exploited and cheated and I left my job under very bad circumstances," and said, "it [TVF] is indeed no place for a woman." .

Writer-director Reema Sengupta made a Facebook post that started with saying, "to everyone doubting if this [Medium post] is true, know that this girl definitely isn't the only girl he has been a sleaze to," and narrated how Arunabh Kumar invited her home "to watch a movie" right after she met him for the first time, and how he, in between a shoot, touched her shoulder tattoo and said that it is sexy.

She ended her post saying that she regret not speaking up about the issue before but now that the anonymous writer has shown guts to do so, she shall too, and wrote, "TVF can release as many 'official responses' rubbishing these claims as they'd like. This is my truth"

A Mid Day report said, in less than three days' time, the number of sexual harassment accusations against Arunabh Kumar crossed 50. But Twitter user, who initially shared the Indian Fowler's post and claimed that he got direct messages from other women who accused Arunabh Kumar of sexual harassment, rubbished the Mid Day report and said there have been six verified complaints.

Addressing the accusations made against him, Arunabh Kumar said that he "compliments" women for being "sexy". And that statement didn't go down well with people on social media. He was slammed left, right and centre on Twitter and memes and jokes on him and the incident flooded social media platforms.

Talking about the Facebook post Reema Sengupta made to the Mumbai Mirror, Arunabh Kumar said, "The kind of insinuations the FB post makes are untrue. I am a heterosexual, single man and when I find a woman sexy, I tell her she's sexy"

POLICE'S RESPONSE

Mumbai Police Commissioner Dutta Padsalgikar told India Today that in such cases, there should be a formal complaint for an investigation to be launched.

When asked whether cases could not be filed taking into consideration the attention it has gotten, he said, "it would not be a complete case without an aggrieved person registering a case. We have been asking the victims to come forward so that law can take it's course."

Days later, on March 28, a top Mumbai Police officer said that Kumar will not be called to the police station to record a statement because he is not been officially accused of sexual harassment and the department hinted at closing the case and giving Arunabh Kumar a clean chit.

OFFICIAL COMPLAINT

After they received a formal complaint from a woman, whose identity has not been disclosed, the Mumbai Police lodged an FIR against Arunabh Kumar yesterday under sections 354 A (sexual harassment) and 509 (intending to outrage a woman's modesty by indecent words, gesture or acts) of the Indian Penal Code.

Exclusive information accessed by India Today revealed that the woman who finally filed an FIR against Arunabh Kumar alleged he touched her inappropriately during an interview. She has never worked with TVF and works for a different production house.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/arunabh-kumar-tvf-ceo-molestation/1/916141.html

What followed next was an anonymous post on the website Akkarbakkar.com again accusing Arunabh of sexual misconduct and slamming TVF for stating that they will leave no stone unturned to find the author of the article and bring them to severe justice for making such false allegations.

Case 3

Another Facebook user, Rafiya Khan then came out with her story of another alleged case of inappropriate touching by Arunabh, about two years ago.

Case 4

Similarly, another ex-TVF employee Aayushi Agarwal also wrote on Medium in reply to Indian Fowler that she had to face a similar experience working there.

Co-founder Speaks Up

However, TVF co-founder Nidhi Bisht has refuted Aarushi's claims stating that: "Ayushi Agarwal is from the Delhi office and her case has nothing to do with Arunabh. The guy involved in that case has been fired in January."

On the issue itself, Nidhi wrote in a Facebook post that investigation is underway about the original blogpost and TVF has gone on record and said that no such girl has ever been associated with TVF.

She added "The official statement cannot possibly be a threat to the victim' because no such person exists. But if they do, TVF urges them to come out or have a representative take legal action and we promise to abide by every rule in the book to make sure justice is served."

Nidhi also added that, "TVF has zero tolerance towards workplace harassment and an investigation will be conducted and appropriate actions will be taken. We have a Prevention of Sexual Harassment committee, backed by Legal and HR which deals with such issues."

Case 5 & 6

Meanwhile, Factordaily had also published screenshots of chats between two more women alleging sexual harassment against Arunabh Kumar with the Twitter user @Corporatekumar_.

The chat also stated that TVF does not have a HR team. However, Arunabh, in an earlier interaction with Inc42, had spoken of an HR team. Separately, we have also reached out to TVF for details on their HR policies.

Case 7

As the day wore on and more details emerged, it was not just employees who came forward with accusations. Even a former IIT batchmate of Arunabh Kumar alleged of an instance of sexual misdemeanour by the TVF founder back in 2012.

In a Facebook post, Reshma Patra talks of an inappropriate conversation, wherein Arunabh had propositioned her to come to his place and suggested that "he would like to get naked & see me stripping & dancing *for him*."

*."

Case 8

Meanwhile, The Quint published an exclusive conversation with a woman who formerly worked with TVF as a freelancer. The interviewee has alleged that Kumar had groped her during a meeting at his house.

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Case 9

Another female Asimah Mirza also came forward alleging of an inappropriate conversation with Arunabh while dealing with him for a guest lecture at Unilever's office. She said that the conversation quickly turned weird in 10 minutes with Arunabh inviting her over for a yoga session in the night.

Reactions And Repercussions

The industry meanwhile is divided on the issue with many slamming the TVF culture for failing to abide by the mandatory Vishakha Guidelines or more accurately, the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, which aims to prevent and redress sexual harassment of women at workplace. Meanwhile, Biswapati Sarkar, another co-founder of TVF has rubbished the sensationalist claims which said that TVF has no HR and has acknowledged that its image has been tarnished. He added that he can vouch for the TVF work culture any day.

As mentioned before, co-founder Nidhi Bisht in her Facebook post also mentioned about a Prevention of Sexual Harassment committee, backed by Legal and HR which deals with such issues.

Aditi Mittal, a female comedian, in a series of tweets questioned the comedy community's silence over the issue.

Another comedian Sorabh Pant also spoke about the issue, adding that the issue needs to be properly investigated and the women who've faced this are treated with due respect.

Similarly, AIB's Rohan Joshi also took to Twitter to express concerns over TVF's alleged failure to ensure to set proper HR guidelines around sexual harassment in place.

Actor Sumeet Vyas who acted in TVF's web series "Permanent Roommates," also came out in support of Arunabh in a Facebook post stating that "I have never seen Arunabh or anyone in TVF misbehave with women, if the environment in that office was not safe, it wouldn't have a 60/40 ratio of male and female employees." But he was backfired by numerous users.

Meanwhile, one Facebook user ( who is not a TVF employee) has also spoken about Arunabh delivering a lecture at IIM Bangalore laced with sexual overtures.

As the onslaught of testimony continues, terming the Medium post slander, Kumar told Mumbai Mirror that social media has already declared him as an offender. However, he is ready to address all the allegations against himself.

"I am open to receiving a police complaint so that I can respond legally, as well. TVF is bigger than me and if there is a remote chance that I have done any wrong, let me be persecuted," he was quoted.

An IIT Kharagpur alum, Arunabh Kumar started his career in 2006. During first few years of his career, he worked as an assistant director at Shahrukh and Gauri Khan's founded Red Chillies Entertainment, during the making of the Shahrukh Khan starer Om Shanti Om, which was released in 2007. Post that he started working as a freelancer, where he tried to learn the ropes of everything in content - from music videos to radio spots to advertising to film scripts. Later in February 2012, theviralfever.com was formally launched. Its first series, Rowdies (a spoof on MTV's reality TV series Roadies) was released in the same month, which made TVF first website in India to make original web content - which went viral with over 1 Mn views. The Mumbai-based company has raised $10 Mn (INR 65.6 Cr) from Tiger Global Management and Temasek Boulevard in 2015, according to a RoC filing.

TVF is known for producing quality digital content for viewers from 18-34 years of age with many famous web series such as Qtiyapa, Pitchers, Permanent Roommates, Tripling to their credit. As per the company, its original web series have an average viewership of over 2 Mn to 5 Mn per episode. As per latest MCA filings for 2015-2016, revenues stood at INR4.22 Cr for TVF and in a recent conversation with Inc42, Arunabh claimed revenues has grown 5x for this financial year.

Their latest web series Bisht, Please! is about to launch on March 18, 2017. The platform is also known for its Girliyapa channel, a dedicated channel for producing strong feminist content.

But, with this controversy, TVF finds itself in the midst of a damning news spiral. While Arunabh's rise to success and his efforts to make the platform a premium content destination are laudable and well-known, the allegations against him are a cause of grave concern for both him as an entrepreneur and for TVF as a brand. It also points to the growing sexist and "ol' boy" culture at many startup organisations.

At the moment, it is unclear if the Indian Fowler or the other victims will take any legal action against Arunabh or not. While the original TVF response was panned as more of a threat than clarification, later, an investigation has been promised by co-founder Bisht. On the other hand, it is unclear if the controversy will have any bearing on Arunabh's position as CEO within the company as well as his association with the TVF brand. But one thing is sure, TVF needs to act swiftly to ensure that its Prevention of Sexual Harassment committee takes appropriate and swift action and clears the air around this issue. For a brand that has built much of its content around female-centric issues, there is a lot at stake here.

Inc42 has reached out to Arunabh for a response, which was not forthcoming at the time of publication.

TVF molestation row: Arunabh Kumar nowhere to be found, police issue summons

TVF founder Arunabh Kumar who allegedly molested women has been issued summon by the Mumbai police. The police have also launched a search operation

• 
  Fukres
• Mar 30, 2017

The problems of TVF co-founder Arunabh Kumar seem to non-ending. Reports have it that police have launched a search operation for him in the molestation case. A FIR against him was lodged yesterday and he has been missing since. He has been summoned by the Mumbai Police for his statement in the case. Reports have it that police started searching for him today morning. Kumar has been booked under sections 354 A and 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Investigating inspector Padmakar Devre from Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) Police Station on Thursday added that the complainant is not Kumar's employee and the investigation is underway.

A case of molestation was filed against Kumar yesterday following the complaint of a victim at the MIDC Police Station. Earlier on 14 March, the TVF had formed a committee to look into the allegations of sexual harassment against Kumar. The TVF had formed an internal committee comprising people from its Human Resource department and administration team.

The FIR was not lodged until Wednesday, since no women who alleged Arunabh of molestation came forward to talk about it. The police had earlier said that they cannot book Kumar because there was no evidence against him.

Also read: Accused of sexual harassment, TVF founder Arunabh Kumar asked to record his statement

When this controversy broke out, TVF received flak for not handling the issue well. The platform had issued a statement that read, "We will leave no stone unturned to find the author of the article and bring them to serve justice for making such false allegations."

However, a few TVF employees rubbished the allegations of sexual harassment against Kumar. Meanwhile, many have come forward criticising the TVF team for refusing to probe the allegations.

Also read: Twinkle Khanna lashes out at TVF head Arunabh Kumar over alleged molestation row

AIB team members Rohan and Tanmay Bhatt also took to Twitter, suggesting the organisation to probe the matter. Earlier this month, around 50 women had come forward on social media and complained against Kumar. However, none of them filed a complaint with the cops. Due to no victim coming forward to speak about the same, the police was earlier considering dropping the case.