New Delhi: Lending her voice to the Tanushree Dutta-Nana Patekar debate, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi said that "harassment of any kind will not be tolerated" and a #MeToo movement should start in India too.
“Harassment of any kind will not be tolerated. We were the first government to start 'SHe Box' on social media and women who wrote to us saying they are harassed, we took action immediately,” said Maneka Gandhi.
The Sexual Harassment electronic Box (SHe-Box) is an effort by the government to provide a single window access to every woman, irrespective of her work status, whether working in organised or unorganised, private or public sector, to facilitate the registration of complaint related to sexual harassment.
Earlier, in an interview to News18, actress Tanushree Dutta described - for the first time, in detail - her allegations of how she was sexually harassed by Nana Patekar on the set of 2008 film Horn ‘OK’ Pleassss. Dutta accused Patekar of misbehaving with her verbally and physically while filming a dance number for the film.
Speaking further on the controversy, Maneka Gandhi said that something like the #MeToo movement should also start in India.
"I feel we should also start something called 'Me Too India' in which any woman who has been harassed at any point should write to us and we should investigate. For the first time NCW is going into every case complained to us and we go in detail," Maneka Gandhi added.
Tanushree, in her interview to News18, bemoaned that #MeToo will not happen unless there is acknowledgement of what happened to her.
“The thing is that our country has become so hypocritical, and people constantly ask why #MeToo movement is not happening in India, it won’t happen unless and until you’ll acknowledge what happened with me in 2008,” Tanushree told News18.
In her allegation, Tanushree Dutta also added that even though industry insiders were aware about Nana Patekar's indecent behaviour with women, no one spoke about it.
She also made allegations against the film’s choreographer Ganesh Acharya, director Rakesh Sarang and producer Samee Siddique, of ganging up against her by witnessing everything mutely, and not interfering.
Post the controversy, Tanushree gradually faded away from the public eye. She was last seen in Jag Mundhra’s Apartment in 2010.
Actors like Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra, Anurag Kashyap, Sonam Kapoor and Renuka Shahane have come out in Tanushree’s support.
The 34-year-old actor, who made her Bollywood debut opposite actors Emraan Hashmi and Sonu Sood in 2005 film Aashiq Banaya Aapne, is taking a short break “to regain strength”.
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