TVF CEO Arunabh Kumar booked for molestation

Allegations over a blog post culminate in case of molestation being filed against Kumar

A case of molestation was filed against the 'The Viral Fever' CEO Arunabh Kumar on Wednesday following the complaint of a victim at the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation Police Station.

Earlier on March 14, the TVF had formed a committee to look into the allegations of sexual harassment against Kumar. The TVF had formed an internal committee comprising people from its Human Resource department and administration team.

How it all started

It all started when a female 'staffer' under the pseudonym Indian Fowler posted a blog at medium.com, accusing Kumar of sexual advances at the workplace, and his several attempts to exploit her.

In the response section, another female employee shared her ordeal at TVF, saying that she "had to face a similar experience while working there. I felt exploited and cheated and I left my job under very bad circumstances".

Retracting their statement

In its official statement after the issue went viral, TVF had said, "We will leave no stone unturned to find the author of the article and bring them to serve justice for making such false allegations."

Subsequently, after facing criticism for its statement, the TVF admitted that it should have responded in a better manner rather than reacting emotionally and too quickly. The company, however, claimed that the person, who first levelled allegations against Kumar in a blog post, was never on its payroll.

"Yes, there have been allegations of misbehaviour against our founder, from several women. When the first blog appeared on March 12, it shocked all of us including our extended set of associates. The allegations were severe. We were confused and taken aback. We did send out an instant response, which may have been a bit too quick and emotional. We recognise that we should have handled that response better," a statement from TVF said.  

However, a few TVF employees rubbished the allegations of sexual harassment against Kumar.

Meanwhile, many have come forward criticising TVF team for refusing to probe the allegations.

AIB's Tanmay Bhatt gets in on the action

AIB team members Rohan and Tanmay Bhatt also took to Twitter, suggesting the organisation to probe the matter.

Earlier this month, around 50 women had come forward on social media and complained against Kumar. However, none of them filed a complaint with the cops.

Due to no victim coming forward to speak about the same, the police was earlier considering dropping the case.