TVF CEO Arunabh Kumar denies sexual harassment allegations, says open to receiving a police complaint.
With several women accusing him of sexual harassment at the workplace and outside, Arunabh Kumar, CEO of the digital entertainment start-up The Viral Fever (TVF) has denied the allegations saying, when he finds a woman sexy, he compliments her. Arunabh also goes on to question if there was anything wrong with that!
Arunabh Kumar became the centre of controversy when an anonymous user by the name of Indian Fowler published a post on Medium alleging sexual harassment by TVF founder Arunabh Kumar. However, though TVF put out a statement strongly denying the allegations and also promising ‘severe justice’ against the person who had written the post, other women have now come forward and backed the allegations.
Speaking to Mumbai Mirror, Arunabh Kumar said, "I would request the woman making these allegations to either report the matter to the police or to the HR team at TVF where she allegedly worked." Kumar said that they had not hired any woman from Muzaffarpur in the last three years.
Kumar also denied allegations levelled by filmmaker Reema Sengupta recalling that Kumar had repeatedly touched her inappropriately during a shoot.
"The kind of insinuations the FB post makes are untrue. I am a heterosexual, single man and when I find a woman sexy, I tell her she's sexy. I compliment women. Is that wrong? Having said that, I am very particular about my behaviour - I will approach a woman, but never force myself," he told the daily.
Further stating that social media had already declared him an offender, he said, "I am ready to address all the allegations against me. I am open to receiving a police complaint so that I can respond legally as well."
Meanwhile, other TVF members have come out strongly in support of Arunabh Kumar. Biswapati Sarkar, well-known for spoofing Arnab Goswami, said that it was an ‘unverified article’, been written by a ‘non-existent person’.
He wrote on Twitter: “Sensationalism > Facts. After working for two straight nights, I wake up to an unverified article written by a non-existent person. People sharing, calling us names.It makes for a great fictional story. I'm sure more anonymous 'ex-TVF' employee stories will drop in. I know a lot of people love the sensationalist story behind it. But sadly, it isn't true. But still... An image is tarnished. Some people will still believe fiction over facts and refuse to accept the simple truth. I am working really hard and I won't waste any more of time trying to convince random people about baseless rumours.”
Further, Nidhi Bisht tweeted: “5 yrs at TVF & no memory of who this Female employee is. It's a baseless fictitious allegation. Haters pls don't stoop down to this level :(“
Later, she wrote a more detailed post on Facebook saying, "TVF has zero tolerance towards workplace harassment and an investigation will be conducted and appropriate actions will be taken. We have a Prevention of Sexual Harassment committee, backed by Legal and HR which deals with such issues."
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