TVF sexual harassment: Cops promise to walk up to victims' doorstep

Arunabh KumarAfter over two weeks of intense pressure since the first in a series of over 50 allegations about sexual harassment against TVF founder Arunabh Kumar emerged and 11 days since Mumbai Police opened an informal investigation in the case an FIR was finally registered by one of the victims around 845 pm yesterday when she approached the MIDC policeJoint commissioner of police law and order Deven Bharti confirmed the development to midday and said On the complaint of a victim a case under sections 354 a making sexually coloured remarks and 509 Word gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman of the IPC has been registered at the MIDC police station against Arunabh KumarFIRacircAcircu00c2u0080Acircu00c2u0088finally registeredTill yesterday the police had been under pressure for not having registered an FIR against Arunabh despite the charges of over 50 women that they had at some point been harassed by him Now according to sources and details of the FIR the victim has alleged that Arunabh molested her in 2016 when she interviewed for a gig at the TVF office and he reportedly touched her and called her sexy several times She approached the MIDC police at around 7 pm and the FIR was officially lodged at 845 pmMeanwhile in a bid to make their case stronger the police has appealed to other victims to also step forward and so desperate is it now that a top city cop has offered home delivery of female officers to help the victims lodge a formal complaint and record their statementsMounting pressure to actFollowing a criminal complaint against them by lawyer Rizwan Siddique for not taking a thirdparty FIR as he originally sought and the public outcry over failure to reach out to victims except the one tweet on March 14 that appealed to any victim to step forward to lodge anFIR against Arunabh the police initiated an informal inquiryOn Wednesday a highlyplaced officer from Mumbai police said If in case any victim feels uncomfortable to come to the police station they are free to call us anywhere We are ready to come to their doorstepIn fact so that they can record their statement freely we will only send our female staffmidday has been following the developments in the case ever since Arunabh became the centre of a controversy after an anonymous blogger under the pseudonym Indian Fowler made allegations on March 12 that she had faced repeated sexual harassment at the workplace from him over a span of two yearsHe said she saidThe blogpost opened a Pandoras box and more allegations began pouring in some anonymously But of the over 50 complaints doing the rounds since March 15 only one has materialised into a formal case so farMeanwhile on March 29 midday had reported that despite police claims of reaching out to victims one of the survivors contradicted the claim and said I dont think the cops are serious about the matter My post is still active on Facebook and has been quoted by several publications but I havent got a single call from the police I am well aware that they want us to record a statement with them But I find them extremely hostile and despite reassurances I dont feel safe about it However they claim to be doing a thorough investigation I should have been reached out to if they were doing their job well