Mumbai: Actor Alok Nath and his wife Ashu Saturday filed a complaint in a local court seeking defamation proceedings to be initiated against writer-director Vinta Nanda for accusing him of rape.
In the complaint filed before the Andheri metropolitan magistrate, Nath and his wife sought a direction to the suburban Amboli police station to take cognisance of the letter sent by them in which they sought defamation proceedings against Nanda.
In a social media post on Monday, Nanda had alleged that the actor had raped her 19 years ago.
On a day Nath’s wife (Nanda’s friend) was out of town, Nanda says she was invited for a party at his house where she says her drinks “were mixed” and she began to feel “strange”. She left his house at 2 am. “All I knew at the time was that I had to get home. I could sense it wouldn’t be right for me to stay there any longer,” she wrote.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Nanda said when she spoke about the incident, everyone around her told her “to keep quiet, shut up.” Thus, going to the police was not an option as it meant “reopening a can of worms which would just make it a very difficult situation.”
On her way, she says she was “accosted” by Nath “who was driving his own car” and offered to drop her home. She sat in his car.
“I have faint memory after that.
I can remember more liquor being poured into my mouth and I remember being violated endlessly.
When I woke up the next afternoon, I was in pain.
I hadn’t just been raped, I was taken to my own house and had been brutalised.
I couldn’t get up for my bed.”
The assault didn’t end that day. Nanda says while she was working on Nath’s new series, he asked her to his house again. “I went to allow him to violate me. I needed the job and didn’t want to leave it as I needed the money. It was after this that I quit,” she wrote.
“I have waited for this moment to come for 19 years,” she added.
In addition to Nanda, actor Sandhya Mridul has also accused Nath of sexually harassing her while shooting a telefilm.
Nath’s lawyer Ashok Sarogi, in a press conference on Thursday, had refuted the allegations and said they were baseless and devoid of any merit.
Also read: After Vinta Nanda, Sandhya Mridul Accuses Actor Alok Nath of Sexual Harassment
The complaint filed by the couple says, “The complainants (Nath and Ashu) have on October 12 addressed a letter to the Amboli police seeking action under sections 499 (defamation) and 500 of the Indian Penal Code against Nanda.”
The police, however, said since the offences are non-cognisable in nature, it would be appropriate if an order is passed by the concerned court of law, it said.
“We are, hence, seeking the court to pass necessary direction to the Amboli police station in-charge to take cognisance of their complaint and hold an inquiry,” the complaint said.
“The complainants have suffered grave and irreparable loss, harm and injury which could never be compensated in terms of money,” the complaint read.
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It added that because of Nanda’s post, which although did not name Nath but subsequently he was named by others, Ashu and Nath have been victimised unnecessarily by way of defamation of their reputation in the society.
“Without commenting on anything about her (Nanda), the fact remains that all such occasions, such as the #MeToo campaign, are being encashed by way of utilising the social media for the purpose of either gaining some name and fame or for the purpose of defaming the reputation of a person,” the complaint said.
(With PTI inputs)