CINTAA to issue notice to Alok Nath post sexual harassment allegations

The Cine and TV Artists Association (CINTAA) will be issuing a show cause notice to veteran actor Alok Nath seeking his stand on the sexual harassment and rape allegations made against him by producer and writer Vinita Nanda.

As the #MeToo movement gained momentum in India, Nanda took to Facebook to narrate her ordeal.

"I hadn't just been raped, I was taken to my own house and had been brutalized," she wrote, while adding that it was the 'most sanskari person in the industry'.

In her post, she recounted her horror and alleged that the lead actor of her show 'Tara'- Alok Nath- harassed the female lead. Following the alleged misconduct Nath was taken off the show and things continued, wrote Nanda.

However, later things went downhill for the writer as she was asked to shut down her show. "I was insulted and humiliated by the CEO, asked to get out of his office and told that women like me should be thrown out of the country. All our shows went off air with immediate effect and my production company was made to shut down," read her post.

During the time Nanda was grappling with losing out on work she was invited to a party and while returning from there she encountered Nath, she recounted.

"I started to walk home on the empty streets although the distance to my own house was long. Midway I was accosted by this man who was driving his own car and he asked me to sit in it and said he would drop me home. I trusted him and sat in his car. I have faint memory after that. I can remember more liquor being poured into my mouth and I remember being violated endlessly. When I woke up the next afternoon, I was in pain. I hadn't just been raped, I was taken to my own house and had been brutalized."

Nanda further wrote that Nath continued to 'create a threatening environment' for her even after the alleged rape.