This week a court granted Alok Nath anticipatory bail in the case charging him with alleged rape against him by writer-director Vinta Nanda. Vinta expresses no disappointment as she says, “I haven’t read the court’s order as yet but I believe the anticipatory bail given to him is on basis certain conditions. Alok Nath cannot leave the country and he cannot be seen anywhere around the periphery of where I live, are two of the conditions laid out by the judge among others.”
She says she is content with what the law decides. “I trust the judicial process and I’m grateful that Judge Oza gave my lawyers Dhruti Kapadia, Kunal Tiwari and Faranaaz Karbhari permission to intervene and file a written submission on my behalf, which gave me the privilege to respond to the application made by team Alok Nath on December 14, 2018, requesting for Anticipatory Bail.
They tried to slander and shame me in his application and I have said what I had to in my written submission thereafter. My response has been taken to account and put on record. Now law will take its own course.”
Vinta does acknowledge that this legal move means respite for the accused. “Alok Nath can come out of hiding after over eight weeks and face the law I should suppose.”
Vinta is content with the progress made by the #MeToo movement in India. “There’s been a seismic shift and the system now includes and legitimizes women in the workforce. The industry has been restructured at every level to include Internal Complaints Committees (ICC’s) across all associations, studios, networks and production houses, which will henceforth ensure that women in the workplace are safe to go about their work without having to worry about basic amenities like toilets etc., and fear being exploited and/or violated. All of the above that I say has happened in the last three months. Could we have asked for more?”
She is also relieved that victims of sexual aggression can now speak out. “Women will no longer have to fear having to suffer in silence when injustice is meted upon them.
But we have a long way to go as yet. We’re a country in which marital rape is given permission because it is not criminalized. Over 80% women who are married are rendered vulnerable to rape. It’s a very disturbing reality. It’s because there are some men who believe they can get away with anything they do at home, that they are emboldened to do it outside their homes and in their workplace too.”
