With women from diverse fields coming up with tales of the harassment they suffered at the hands of sexual predators, several big names are coming out in the open.
On Tuesday, veteran actor Alok Nath – known for his “sanskaari” image on screen – faced allegations of rape that he committed almost two decades ago. His name surfaced after writer-producer Vinta Nanda took to Facebook to narrate her ordeal.
In the post, she mentioned that she was sexually violated by the star TV actor of the 90s. While she refrained from naming him in her post, Nanda later told the media that she was referring to Alok Nath.
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In her post, Nanda also said Nath would harass the lead actress of the show she was writing and producing at the time. While she did not name the actress either, the female lead opposite Nath in the show, Tara, was Navneet Nishan.
Amid all these allegations, a 1994 interview has surfaced which said Navneet Nishan had called Alok Nath “alcoholic” and also sued him for Rs 1 crore for allegedly calling her a drug user in an interview to Movie magazine.
Navneet also reportedly had a fight with Alok Nath’s wife, Ashu Nath, who was the costume coordinator for Tara. Asserting that the ‘drug user’ allegations were fabricated, she has said, “It’s taken me 8 years to get where I am and I don’t want some alcoholic fool to mess it up for me.”
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On Tuesday, Navneet corroborated Vinta Nanda’s account. In a statement to NDTV, she said, “I dealt with the four-year harassment by slapping the man in question, and it is done and dusted. l suffered the loss of the show and was further shamed by the man through media and I endured that.”
In her Facebook post, Nanda mentioned how she was violated and raped after a party, and how the trauma had stayed with her.
Later on Tuesday, Alok Nath reacted to the allegations. He told ABP: “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.”