Author Chetan Bhagat, who was recently accused of unwanted and unwelcome advances amounting to harassment, today said that after apologising for the messages he had sent to the woman years ago, he and his family is now harassed because of the allegations. In a Facebook post earlier today, Bhagat has tried to make people aware of the #FakeMeToo movement where people with a personal vendetta against him could be out to get him.
He said that in his long career, he may have upset a lot of people, who may now take advantage of a movement which has recently taken India by a storm. He accepts that he did send the messages to a girl he was attracted towards but he is not a harasser and never will be. In other tweets which had emerged of him communicating to an erotica writer, he explains he was just trying to know her better as a writer he likes to study people behaviour. He then shared samples of her writing, which she had sent him as a manuscript a couple of years ago, following which the said conversation between the two had taken place. However, a mob fury has been unleashed on him and it is taking a toll on his personal life, even as he chooses to remain silent in a bid to help the movement.
However, more details have emerged in the case as the girl who had originally accused him of sending inappropriate texts has furthered her allegations and said that it was not just any ‘girl’ he was trying to ‘woo’ but it was her, a journalist, who had met him in a professional capacity.
So @chetan_bhagat is lying about the girl he harassed. She’s a friend and a journalist. If he keeps lying, she’s going to come out publicly. This is her message to me. pic.twitter.com/74N3WZWBVe
— Mahima Kukreja ??✊? (@AGirlOfHerWords) October 10, 2018
In a screenshot of WhatsApp conversation that was shared, the girl, purportedly the one whom Bhagat sent the inappropriate text, said that it wasn’t a “serendipitous friendship that he’s painting it as.” She says that she had decided to let it go without further clarifications but “now that he’s made himself out as a victim who is being ‘harassed’ I’m obliged to make it clear that HE was the one hounding a JOURNALIST.” She further accused Bhagat of repeatedly transgressing a professional equation. She said that Bhagat is riding on a sympathy wave he created by saying that the screenshots leaked are a failed attempt at flirting, without clarifying he was talking to a journalist on a professional level.
Twitter user @AGirlOfHerWords further added that yet another journalist-writer was made to feel uncomfortable by Bhagat as he allegedly kept talking about the length of her skirt.
I know another friend (also a journalist and writer) who he made uncomfortable when she went to interview him and started talking about the length of her skirt. About time @chetan_bhagat stops making it out to be flirting gone wrong. This is harassment and creepy behaviour.
— Mahima Kukreja ??✊? (@AGirlOfHerWords) October 10, 2018
The #MeToo movement on social media has taken the country by a storm with many big industry names like Alok Nath, Rajat Kapoor, Varun Grover and comedians like Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba, co-founders of All India Bakchod being accused of sexual misconduct. Journalists like Prashant Jha and film director Vikas Bahl and many, many more have been named as perpetrators of harassment.
