Amidst the allegations of inappropriate behaviour levelled against Padma Bhushan awardee and father of filmmaker Nandita Das, artist Jatin Das, another woman has come forward naming him and accusing him of behaving inappropriately.
More on Jatin Das #MeTooIndia #MeToo pic.twitter.com/cq0FoKmMes
— Sandhya Menon (@TheRestlessQuil) October 18, 2018
One Malavika Kundu has claimed that back in 1999 or 2000 when she was about 18 years old, she was asked by Das to help him out as an assistant to catalogue his collection of books. She claims she was at his place for about 3 days. On the first day, she says, he called her ‘baby’ which she didn’t like and asked him to not refer to her like that. She says that while the first two days were uneventful it still made her uncomfortable. On the third day, she claims he sat her down to have a word with her where he told her that he was older than her and she being so young should be receptive to him.
She says while other details may be fuzzy to her but she remembers the part very clearly where he specifically asked her to think of herself as a ‘matki’ (a clay pot) and that she should let him ‘plant his seed in him’. These allegations against Das come a day after one Garusha Katoch retold her horror from five years back.
Jatin Das: Renowned painter, Padma Bhushan recipient and someone who tried to take advantage of me when I was 20. 5 years too late but it’s about time I speak up. @NishaBora thank you for speaking up. #MeToo pic.twitter.com/PgheXFOy5R
— Garusha Katoch (@GarushaK) October 16, 2018
Katoch, narrating an incident from 2013, claimed that Das made inappropriate moves towards her when she was 20. She claims that Das, on the pretext of taking her home, took her to his house where he forcefully groped her and tried to kiss her. “He introduced me to his staff and said I’d live there, much to my surprise. I merely peaked into the room before stepping out. That is when he leaned in and hugged me tight almost trying to kiss me. I looked away. I had tears in my eyes, I am sure he saw them.”
Earlier we had reported that conservationist Nisha Bora, who had met Das through her family back in 2004, had accused Das of grabbing her and forcefully kissing her. Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, Nandita Das, Jatin Das’ daughter had said that one should be sure about these allegations to make sure that the ‘movement’ is not diluted. Nandita Das, in her statement, stays clear from criticizing her father for his sexual conduct but instead stands by him terming it as ‘allegations just to dilute the movement’.
