Mumbai: MNS chief Raj Thackeray has defended Nana Patekar against sexual harassment allegations levelled by Tanushree Dutta, but conceded that the Bollywood actor is “indecent” and “crazy”.
“I know Nana Patekar. He is indecent; he does crazy things, but I don't think he can do such a thing. The court will look into it. What has the media got to do with it? #MeToo is a serious matter, the debate over it on Twitter isn't right,” ANI quoted Thackeray as saying at an event in Amravati.
Thackeray also claimed that the #MeToo movement was being “fuelled” to divert attention from rising fuel prices and plunging rupee, but at the same time said women facing harassment could approach the MNS for help. He, however, said women should not raise their voice “10 years later”.
“It seems it is being done to divert attention from petrol price, rupee value, and unemployment. If anything like #MeToo happens, women can come to MNS. We will teach a lesson to accused. Women must raise the voice when they face oppression, not after 10 years," he reportedly said.
Patekar has been booked by the Mumbai Police for allegedly sexually harassing Dutta on the sets of the movie Horn Ok Pleassss 10 years ago, a charge the actor has denied. In her complaint to the police, Dutta has also alleged threat to life by purported MNS workers. "Violent threats are being issued against me by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) party," she had claimed.
Dutta had first accused Patekar in 2008 and reiterated the allegations in a TV interview earlier this month, opening the floodgates for the #MeToo movement in which several big names, MJ Akbar, Sajid Khan, Chetan Bhagat, Suhel Seth and Rajat Kapoor, have been accused of sexual misconduct.
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