Multiple Women Accuse TVF's Arunabh Kumar of Sexual Harassment

Following an article published on medium.com that accuses the founder of The Viral Fever (TVF), Arunabh Kumar, of sexual harassment, multiple women have alleged that they too had similar experiences at TVF. Speaking exclusively to The Quint, a woman who formerly worked with TVF as a freelancer, alleged that Kumar had groped her during a meeting at his house.

I was in a meeting at Arunabh's house with three other women. The meeting was taking place in the hall of the apartment. Arunabh left the meeting in the middle and went inside. Since he was gone for quite a while, I went inside the next room to call him.

Suddenly, I felt someone from behind grope my breasts, and when I turned around, it was Arunabh.

"I was in shock. He was looking straight into my eyes. I rushed out of the room. The meeting resumed shortly after and lasted another 20 minutes. At the end of it, I walked out of TVF, never to return."

TVF has issued a statement rubbishing the allegations made in the medium.com article. They called it "ludicrous and defamatory" and "categorically false, baseless and unverified."

We will leave no stone unturned to find the author of the article and bring them to severe justice for making such false allegations. TVF's comment on the article alleging sexual harassment by founder Arunabh Kumar

'It's Time We Do a Quicky'

The controversy started after an anonymous post on Medium.com alleging sexual harassment against Kumar went viral. Here's an excerpt:

"I am abruptly called by Arunabh at 6.45 pm. I am in the local bank towards my home. He demands I come back to office. Apparently, I have not finished some part of my work. I reluctantly come back. There are 3 people in office. 2 of them leave within 5 minutes of me coming in. And Arunabh is sitting on a Chair in a casual manner. I walk up to him. He looks at me and asks me - "Chaturbhuj Sthan ka naam suni ho"? I am stunned. For non-starters, Chaturbhuj Sthan is the Red Light District of Muzaffarpur. I didn't respond. His second question- "Humko Chaturbhuj Sthan Bahut Pasand Hai. Udhar commercial deals hoti hain. Tum Bhi to commercial deal pe aayi ho". I was getting where he was leading the discussion to. I avoided an interaction."

I said "Arunabh, aap bade bhai hain. Meri tabiyat thodi theek nahi hai. Kya karna hai bataiye. Hum karke ghar jaayenge" He suddenly holds my hand. Says "Madam, thoda role play karein".

The post goes on to detail another incident of sexual harassment during a meeting in TVF and says,

The Ola team was meeting him and we were taking notes. He walks out of the meeting with some excuse and calls me for some notes. I walk up. He says it's time we do a 'quicky'. I am stunned. And I told him I will go to the police. He says "Police to meri pocket me hai". I walked out deciding never to come back.

I walk up to my bosses and tell them that I don't want to see him, they simply ask me to walk out. I tell (Naveen) Kasturia that this is what has happened, and he laughs it off. Says 'Duniya hai. Hota hai.' I just wished I could kill myself.

100% Sure That the Blog is Fake: Naveen Kasturia

The Quint spoke to actor Naveen Kasturia, who has, in the past, worked on TVF productions such as Pitchers. Kasturia, accused of



laughing off the victim's accounts of harassment when she approached him, countered the allegations by asserting that he is "100% sure that the blog is fake."

 

I have no idea who this person is. If I knew the person, I would remember saying this. I don't remember anything or anyone like that. I don't know any girl who fits the description of the girl mentioned in the blog.

The Chorus Against Arunabh Kumar Gets Louder

An ex-employee added to the growing chorus of allegations against TVF,

I have faced a similar experience while I was working there. I felt exploited and cheated and I left my job under very bad circumstances. I hope things have worked out for you. It is indeed no place for a woman. I would never recommend anybody to work there.

Another woman has also alleged that Arunabh Kumar molested her.

She wrote, "I was shooting with him in the TVF office, for a web series I was directing last year. The first time we met at the recce, he asked me to send him my work, which I did out of courtesy. When we met on the day of the shoot, I asked him if he had seen the links. To this he said - why don't you come over to my place and we can watch them together. We can also watch a movie. Which movie do you want to watch? I politely evaded the question and continued briefing him about the shoot."

As I talk, he finds some lame excuse to place his hand on my hand (which was on the table in his glass cabin). In the middle of the shoot, he touches my shoulder tattoo and tells me he finds it sexy. After every other shot, he would come over to the monitor to see how the shot looks, but at the same time graze his hand against my waist.

TVF's Response: Allegations Ludicrous

The Viral Fever has released a statement that calls the allegations in the medium.com article "completely ludicrous and defamatory against TVF and its team".

"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."

We will leave no stone unturned to find the author of the article and bring them to severe justice for making such false allegations. TVF's response said.

TVF though has not made it clear whether there was any internal probe within the organisation on the matter, and if the allegations of the article being "ludicrous" were made without an investigation.

The Quint has reached out to Arunabh Kumar for his responses to the multiple allegations against him and on whether he would consider stepping down from his position at TVF to facilitate an internal probe into these allegations.

Speaking exclusively to The Quint, actor-writer at TVF, Biswapati Sarkar said,

We would know if there was a person who fits the description. I don't know if the person is real. A lot of things mentioned in the article don't seem to be true. Of course, this is someone trying to fabricate an issue.

Amit Golani, a director at TVF and Nidhi Bisht also tweeted about the issue.

Those wondering why the strong worded response. because there is no such person and this all seems very conveniently orchestrated