#MeToo: Tanushree Dutta Failed To Appear Before Women's Commission

Actor Tanushree Dutta was summoned to appear in person before the Maharashtra State Commission for Women, to provide more information regarding her allegations of sexual harassment directed against actor Nana Patekar and others. Unfortunately, she missed the appointments to meet up, said MSCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar on Wednesday.

“We had received a complaint from Tanushree Dutta. But she never appeared in person. We could not even figure who (a third person) had sent this complaint to us. Yet, we immediately took cognizance of the matter and promptly issued notices to the people related to the case,” said Ms. Rahatkar, at a press conference.

After the complaint made by Tanushree, the Commission sent a notice to the people related to the case. The victim was also required to come directly and give information about her complaint, which did not take place. - Vijaya Rahatkar

According to Rahatkar, who is also the national president of the BJP’s Mahila Morcha, the MSCW had repeatedly requested Dutta to appear before it. The actor had made some serious allegations in the past and to shed some more light on the matter in order to help her, an in-person meeting with her was necessary. Despite that, she hasn't presented herself to date. Tanushree had earlier accused the MSCW of not helping her in the case. The commission has denied all the allegations that they were trying to give Nana Patekar a clean chit, adding that all the legal action had been taken on Tanushree's complaint, which is the procedure to be followed in such cases.

Rahatkar, further added, "After the complaint made by Tanushree, the Commission sent a notice to the people related to the case. The victim was also required to come directly and give information about her complaint, which did not take place. The process for actor Nana Patekar's clean chit has begun, after the report was submitted by the police in the court. The court received the B summary report (no evidence in support of the claim) and began the process accordingly. After the report was released, Tanushree has been given a notice period."

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Earlier this month, the case took a new turn when the Mumbai police filed a closure report in connection with the FIR registered by her against Patekar and three others.

Dutta, whose sexual harassment allegations set the events in motion for the #MeToo movement in Bollywood, had registered the case pertaining to her harassment complaint against Nana Patekar. She had earlier complained that Patekar had sexually harassed her on the sets of Horn OK Pleassss in 2008, sources said. Dutta had complained against Patekar, producer Samee Siddiqui, choreographer Ganesh Acharya and director Rakesh Sarang.

The actress had commented on Zoom TV: “Everyone knows about Nana Patekar that he has always been disrespectful towards women. People in the industry know about his background… that he has beaten actresses, he has molested them, his behaviour with women has always been crude but no publication has printed anything about it.”

Talking about her ordeal on the Horn OkPleassss sets, she alleged that when she refused to comply with Patekar’s advances, goons were sent after her. The controversy didn’t stop there. After Dutta’s allegations about Patekar surfaced, she also claimed that she faced similar harassment at hands of the film Chocolate's director Vivek Agnihotri during its making.

Feature Image Credit: Sakshi

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