TVF Sex Harassment Case: Cops Summon Arunabh Kumar

Arunabh Kumar is not off the hook yet. Accused of sexual harassment, the TVF founder-CEO has now been summoned by the police for questioning, even as cops try to contact his alleged victims to verify the allegations in the third-party FIR application filed by criminal lawyer Rizwan Siddiqui last week.

"We have informed Arunabh's office and have asked him to come and record his statement. We are trying to contact the victims who made allegations against him as well," confirmed Senior PI Sailesh Pasalvar, MIDC police station.

Arunabh is likely to come forward and give his testimony this week. The police will also record the statement of the complainant, Advocate Siddiqui this week. The cops are also tracking down the individual complaints and are trying to contact each of the victims through social media or other means.

The controversy

A little over a week ago, Arunabh - CEO of the digital entertainment start-up The Viral Fever (TVF) - became the centre of a controversy after an anonymous blogger (under the pseudonym Indian Fowler) made allegations that she had faced repeated sexual harassment at the workplace from him over a span of two years. The blogpost opened a Pandora's box, and more allegations began pouring in, some anonymously. However, despite a plea from Mumbai Police, no one came forward to register a complaint.

The barrage of allegations prompted well-known advocate Rizwan Siddiqui to file a third-party application for an FIR at the MIDC police station. As Sunday mid-day reported, however, only the victims can nail Arunabh by coming forward and recording their statements.

'Delaying action'

Meanwhile, Siddiqui lamented on the slow pace of police action, alleging that the cops are dragging their feet on registering an FIR. "It is quite sad to place on record that the senior inspector of MIDC police station has still not registered the FIR despite full knowledge that all FIRs falling under Section 354 (molestation) have to be recorded immediately. As a matter of fact, the inspector is to be punished with imprisonment if he fails to perform his duty. This failure on his part is giving the accused sufficient time to tamper with evidence," alleged the lawyer.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)