Vinod Dua, media person accused of sexual harassment and stalking is now back doing shows, but it appears like he is no longer with the leftist propaganda website The Wire, but has been rehabilitated at a publication called HW News Network.
जल्द आ रहा हूं मैं HW NEWS पर @hwnewsnetwork pic.twitter.com/baCu0QjObj
— Vinod Dua (@VinodDua7) December 6, 2018
Not too long ago, the #MeToo movement had shaken the very foundation of established media. Several people were accused of molestation as scores of women stepped forward to tell their harrowing tales. One of the people accused was media person Vinod Dua who at that time, worked with The Wire.
The filmmaker had accused him of stalking her and sexually harassing her in a harrowing tale. She said first, when he interviewed her, he cracked lewd, sexual jokes. Then, after he insulted her and she took a job elsewhere, he stalked her to the workplace and asked her to get in the car. While she thought he might just apologise, he forcefully kissed her instead.
Following the allegations of sexual harassment and stalking mounted against Vinod Dua, The Wire had issued a statement about an internal committee probing the allegations against him, however, as is the nature of The Wire, they allowed Dua to publish a video denigrating the entire #MeToo movement using The Wire platform.
He made ridiculous comments like calling the allegations against him ‘keechad’, and insinuating that the #MeToo movement was orchestrated to ensure that “real” issues are not spoken about, like criticising Narendra Modi.
Another woman had accused Vinod Dua of sexual harassment as well, however, after these multiple allegations, The Wire’s internal committee report, if there was one, was never made public.
On 17th November, Vinod Dua had also seemingly lashed out at The Wire. He had agreed with an article written by Justice Katju and said that character cannot be expected from today’s media owners and that they “don’t stand by one’s own colleagues”. One would imagine that this was Dua’s way of lashing out at his former employers at The Wire who did not support him publicly but rather, pulled his video down from their YouTube channel.
Yes Justice Katju we can’t expect courage of character from today’s media owners to stand by one’s colleagues and have the guts to to take on the highest and the mightiest on matters of principles. https://t.co/bvIU4yvXGq
— Vinod Dua (@VinodDua7) November 16, 2018
The reason for Dua’s exit from The Wire has not been made public. If at all there was an internal committee constituted, its findings have not been made public either. With Dua lashing out at The Wire, it is unclear whether Dua left The Wire because they “did not stand by him”, or the internal committee found Dua guilty of sexual harassment and hence, he was asked to exit.
The insincerity of The Wire is evident from the fact that they rehabilitated another journalist of theirs who was accused of rape. Among others, one woman had accused Akhil Kumar of The Wire of sexual assault and emotional harassment. She narrates two incidents. One, where Akhil removed his condom without informing her and she suffered infection after that. Second, where he forced himself on her, repeatedly bit her and pinned her down. She says that Akhil didn’t stop even after she repeatedly said no and broke down into tears. She also accused him of emotional traumatizing her.
After a few weeks of conspicuous absence, Akhil Kumar was back on The Wire. OpIndia had reached out to The Wire for an explanation but our emails have since been unanswered.
The Wire and its coterie had pretended to be the harbingers of women’s rights. However, it is intriguing how the Left’s double standards leave no cause untouched. The collective silence of the entire ecosystem on the shenanigans of The Wire and its journalists only goes to prove that the left will rehabilitate its own no matter what the price is.
UPDATE: Digital portal The News Laundry reached out to The Wire and this time, they did manage to respond. In a move which is even more shocking, after the accuser had asked The Wire to ensure that Dua was fired so a fair investigation can take place, and confirmed that Vinod Dua continues to be there Consulting Editor. In their response, they have stated that he is, however, free to work elsewhere as well.
They have also asserted that the committee to probe the allegations was constituted in October and the investigation is still on.
