'Show Remorse, Repentance, Will Forgive You': Vinta Nanda To Alok Nath On Rape Charges

With an FIR for rape lodged against actor Alok Nath, writer-director Vinta Nanda says she is "willing to forgive" but "show some remorse, repentance", so she knows he will never violate another woman again.

Vinta is still willing to forgive Alok if he apologises. "I was never in this for revenge. I want correction, not revenge. Show some remorse, show some sign of repentance.

"Let me know that no other woman would be violated by you the way I was. All I see right now is an attitude of defiance and shamelessness. If that's the way it is going to be, then I'll see my fight for justice to the end."

About taking the battle legal, she said: "Actually the FIR was lodged on Tuesday. The media got wind of it on Wednesday morning and all hell broke loose. And I mean that in a good way.

"If it wasn't for the media my fight for justice would never have come so far. I am lucky to have such invaluable support from my friends, my family and from the media who have pitched in their trust behind my fight."

"I feel blessed," said Vinta.

But is she ready for a long lonely legal battle ahead?

"Firstly, it's not a lonely battle. I have my mother, family and several close friends with me. As for the legal battle ahead, I am very well armed and equipped.

"Three of the brightest young lawyers of Mumbai -- Dhruti Kapadia, Faranaaz Kharbhari and Kunal Tiwari -- are fighting my case free of cost. They believe in my fight.

"Today I can dare to face a legal battle without fearing the financial burden," the 48-year-old said.

She feels what the #MeToo movement has done is awaken the nation's conscience to their responsibilities as citizens.

"There is just no room or tolerance for inappropriate behaviour any more," she said, adding that her fight for justice is not her own.

"There are so many women out there who have been raped, molested, harassed, eveteased.

"Men who thought troubling women was their birthright have been forced to reconsider their patriarchal definitions of gender relations.

"What seemed 'normal' to them earlier will land them in serious trouble now. And they know it. That's the difference."

Vinta is surprised at how Alok Nath refuses to acknowledge the wrong he has done. "He is brazening it out when he should have apologised. Instead, he got his wife to speak on his behalf. That is so sad.

"In our society women still feel like standing by their husbands -- no matter how wrong they are -- is their dharma. Men take advantage of this unconditional spousal support," she added.

The Mumbai police on Wednesday registered a rape case against actor Alok Nath based on the complaints of TV writer and producer Vinta Nanda.

“The case was filed under section 376 of IPC (rape),” Additional Commissioner of Police Manoj Sharma said.

Vinta Nanda, a veteran writer-producer of the avant-garde 1990s' show "Tara" fame, had accused actor Alok Nath -- known for his "sanskaari" on-screen image -- of sexually violating her almost two decades ago.

In a long Facebook post, Nanda wrote a harrowing account of her personal trauma -- how the actor raped and brutalised her in her own home.

"I have waited for this moment to come for 19 years," Nanda wrote in a long, heart-wrenching Facebook post, referring to the "predator in question" as "the actor par excellence who is known as the most 'sanskaari' (cultured) person in the film and television industry".

"He was an alcoholic, shameless and obnoxious but he was also the television star of that decade, so not only was he forgiven for all his bad behaviour, many of the guys would also egg him on to be his worst," Nanda wrote, adding that he even harassed the show's lead actress who was not interested in him.

Sharing the "worst" that happened, Nanda recounted the incidents that followed after she left a party at Alok's house at 2 a.m. She says her drinks were mixed.

"I started to walk home on the empty streets... 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 brutalised.

"I couldn't get up for my bed. I told some of my friends but everybody advised me to forget about it and move on."

Several others also came out about their experiences with Alok, leading film and television associations like CINTAA (Cine and Television Artistes Association) and IFTDA (Indian Film and Television Directors' Association) to send him notices.

Alok had rejected IFTDA's notice on the ground that no police complaint had been filed against him. Instead, he filed a civil defamation suit against Nanda, demanding a written apology and compensation of one rupee.

(With inputs from agencies)