Tanushree Dutta, Nana Patekar
Tanushree Dutta, Nana PatekarInstagram/Reuters

Actress Tanushree Dutta is currently in news for accusing veteran actor Nana Patekar of sexually harassing her on the sets of a film in 2008.

Tanushree's serious allegations have initiated several debates on social media with a lot of people supporting the actress, some standing with Nana, others expressing doubts on the validity of the charges, and a few refusing to take sides.

While a host of Bollywood celebrities tweeted in support of Tanushree, a few other big stars chose not to comment on the issue saying that they were not fully aware of the incident.

Nonetheless, there are many others on social media who are sceptical about the allegations or want to contain their opinion before the charges are actually proved. The virtual world got divided into three opinions - one who completely believe and support Tanushree, second who are doubtful and wanting to wait for a thorough probe, and third who believe a person like Nana cannot commit such a crime.

Who is supporting Tanushree and on what grounds

A number of Bollywood stars and social activists, who believe it is high time a movement like #MeToo should start in India, have extended support for the actress. Celebs like Sonam Kapoor, Richa Chadha, Farhan Akhtar, Twinkle Khanna, Swara Bhasker, Anurag Kashyap among others expressed their belief in Tanushree.

They have opined that when a girl managed to muster the courage to talk about an issue like sexual harassment, she should be heard and encouraged. Their belief got firmer when a journalist, Janice Sequeira claimed to be an eyewitness of the incident and approved Tanushree's claims.

Most of her supporters are of the view that such incidents do happen, and when someone dares to speak about it, her intentions should not be questioned.

 
 
 

 

Who are sceptical and why

A section of social media users are doubtful about the entire episode. While a few of them do not want to jump the gun before a proper investigation is carried, and the truth is out, some others are sceptical about Tanushree's intentions.

The fact that the actress, who has been away from India and the industry for a long time, suddenly came here and raised a decade-old alleged incident, made many doubt her intentions. They also expressed doubts at the Bollywood stars' encouragement, saying that they might not have openly supported her if the accused was a superstar and not Nana Patekar.

Some do not want to support the ongoing media trial and refuse to take sides before the matter sees a legal conclusion. Also, some incidents from the recent past, wherein similar charges of molestation and sexual harassment had apparently fallen flat made some more cautious. Zaira Wasim had recently accused a flight co-passenger of molesting her, followed by the man was arrested, but was later released on bail. An eye-witness present on the flight had said that the man did not do anything like that with the young actress.

Another similar case happened when a Delhi college girl, Jasleen Kaur had accused a man named Sarvjeet Singh of harassing her on street. The man was instantly called guilty due to the extensive media trial, but later the case reportedly turned out to be a false one.

 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 

 
 

 

Who believes Nana and why

Nana is one of the veteran actors in the industry and is well regarded for his acting skills and social service. Many are not ready to believe that he can commit a crime like this. They opined that Tanushree decided to dig out a 10-year-old alleged incident only to get some publicity. They also feel that if the allegations were true, she would have filed a case against Nana, instead of just holding press conferences and interviews to media.