Rape case registered against Alok Nath: Details inside
New Delhi : Industry actor Alok Nath has been booked under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), leaving his fans in a state of shock. The actor has been accused of sexual assault by a veteran TV writer-producer.
After the FIR was registered, the TV producer released a statement, “The moment I penned the truth on Facebook on October 8, 2018, it felt like I had released myself from the prison of fear. Today, I am glad the FIR has been finally lodged. I trust the Mumbai Police. I know that when things have finally come this far, justice will prevail. I have full faith and confidence in the country’s judiciary.”
It was in October, this year, the TV writer-producer in a Facebook post opened up about the incident that left her “shattered”. She then wrote, “I have waited for this moment to come for 19 years,” and continued to narrate the incident. “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. I told some of my friends but everybody advised me to forget about it and move on.
When Alok Nath was asked about the post, he first neither denied nor accepted the allegation put on him. He told ABP News, “Neither I am denying this nor do I would agree with it. It (rape) must have happened, but someone else would have done it. Well, I do not want to talk much about it as for the matter if it has come out, it will be stretched.” But when Cine & TV Artists Association (CINTAA) sent Nath a show-cause notice, his lawyer responded to it saying that the allegations against him were false and in the absence of any complaint filed against him, the notice sent to him is “premature”. The actor also filed a civil suit against the woman in the Dindoshi sessions court, seeking Re 1 as damages for allegedly defaming him.
The accused actor also sent a show cause notice by Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA). In his response, the actor said that he is not liable or answerable to any organisation since no formal police complaint was filed. “My client states that however, in the present case, there is no complaint at all made with any of the police authorities nor filed with any of the legal authorities save and except making interviews and some complaints on social media,” the response sent to IFTDA by Alok Nath’s lawyer read.
After filing a police complaint against Nath, the TV writer-producer approached the National Commission for Women (NCW) for help. She, in her letter to NCW, wrote that she “apprehends threat to her life and seeks police protection.” Following up on the letter, NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma asked Maharashtra’s Director General of Police (DGP) to “personally intervene” and ensure speedy investigation in the case.
