#MeToo: "I Was Being Advised To Not Come Out," Vinta Nanda On Alok Nath Rape Allegations

Bollywood's #MeToo movement has gained momentum in past few days following Tanushree Dutta's allegations against veteran actor Nata Patekar.  In one of the latest revelations, producer of the popular 90s show, Vinta Nanda accused actor Alok Nath of alleged rape and brutality. Nanda, in an elaborate Facebook post, narrated the details of the horrific incident that happened to her back in the 90s. Although, Nanda did not name the accused, she did call him the 'TV actor of the decade' and so the internet was quick enough to connect the dots. Shortly after, Alok Nath became an instant trend, with several calling for prosecution. In a string of tweets, several Bollywood celebrities opened up on the matter calling it 'heart-wrenching' and 'terrifying'.

In an exclusive interview with Republic TV, Vinta Nanda opened up about the incident that happened to her in the 90s during the shoot of television soap opera 'Tara' that aired on Zee TV. Detailing about the incident she revealed that she has always been very vocal about the allegations which went unheard. Although, Alok Nath, who was one of the leads of her show that time, was thrown out of it, no strong action was taken against him. She further stated that everyone at the time suggested her to keep mum and forget what happened instead of reporting it. 

READ: Vinta Nanda On Alok Nath: He Did Not Deny It Even In 2003, 04 And 05 When I Had Written About It

The producer in her statement said, "His misbehaviour had been reported and it had been registered and therefore he was thrown out of the show. He was asked to leave the show"

"I was being advised not to come out and was being told I was committing hara-kiri when I came out. I was bold enough to say no way, I'll bring out the truth, and then I saw that the truth only came back to hit me, and nothing happened. Despite everyone knowing what had happened and what he had done to me, nobody was ready to support me and come out and say that this guy needs to be punished. And yes, I could have gone to the cops, filed FIRs but it didn't occur to me without support." she added. 

Nanda further stated that her career suffered a lot because of the incident. She was not getting work as the production houses feared that she won't compromise and might report the wrongdoings. She revealed that the incident left her with huge mental setback on her conscience and she got addicted to drugs and alcohol for a while to come over the situation. She said that she was silenced by the society that eventually weakened her will to fight for justice. 

"Silence has severe consequences, especially in this regard, because what happened to me, I wouldn't wish upon anybody. I was silenced and that made me easy prey. It also turned me to this person who everyone knew won't be heard. I was physically not able to respond to a human being who was a male." she said in a statement.

READ: #MeToo | After Vinta Nanda Accuses Alok Nath Of Alleged Rape, Actress Navneet Nishan Comes Out And Supports The Claims 

Talking about regaining the courage to raise her voice once again, Nanda said, "the environment now is extremely enabling and women are not going to settle for less. And that's the change that has taken place and that's the change that has motivated me to come out and talk and come to terms with the situation that happened in my life and also move on."

The actress, who mentioned Nath's wife as her best friend in her Facebook post said that "In my time, we women were very together but we didn't have the courage to go against the men in our lives, for each other." Talking about her future course of action, the producer said, "I will be meeting people who will advise me and then I will take a call"