The Mumbai Police on Wednesday registered an FIR against veteran actor Alok Nath on allegations of rape by writer-filmmaker Vinta Nanda. According to Mumbai Police additional CP Manoj Sharma, "Oshiwara Police has registered an FIR against Alok Nath under section 376 of IPC (rape) on the complaint filed by Writer Vinta Nanda."
When the MeToo wave struck India, Nanda, who worked with Alok Nath in the '90s hit TV show Tara, opened up about being 'brutally raped' by the actor 20 years ago. In a lengthy Facebook post on October 8, she recounted the harrowing experience. “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 but many of the guys would egg him on to be his worst. My lead female actor was being harassed by him. He would mess with her on the sets and everyone would be silent. When she complained to us, we decided to let him go,” she wrote in the lengthy post.
Recounting her 'worst' experience, she wrote that she left Alok Nath's home after a party at 2am, and that her drinks were mixed. “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 brutalised,” she wrote.
Following the allegations, Actor Alok Nath and his wife Ashu Saturday filed a complaint in a local court seeking defamation proceedings to be initiated against Vinta Nanda. Nath's lawyer refuted the allegations and said they were baseless and devoid of any merit.
After Nanda's went public with her story, actress Sandhya Mridul also accused him of sexual misconduct. Earlier this month, the Cine and TV Artists Association expelled Alok Nath.