Bengal theatre's #MeToo moment: Popular actor-playwright arrested for molestation

chaterjee Sudipto Chatterjee | via Facebook

Popular theatre actor, playwright and professor Sudipto Chatterjee has been arrested for sexually assaulting two actors in the pretext of helping them to hone their acting skills.

Three women had levealled allegations of sexual harassment against Chatterjee although only two of them have filed police complaints against him. He was arrested on Friday afternoon.

Angela Mondal, Rajeswari Paul, and Srabasti Ghosh spoke out against the actor on social media before two of them—Angela and Rajeswari—decided to pursue legal action against Chatterjee even as he dubbed the allegations “a case of distortion and misrepresentation of facts.”

Chatterjee, had claimed that the act was completely educational and consensual adding that there was nothing sexual about it, reported The Indian Express.

Calling Chatterjee a serial offender, Mondal accused him of penetrating her “with his fingers and asked me to spurt out the dialogues louder and louder”.

She said, “There have been too many victims, however, he always had gotten away with this because the survivors couldn’t come out with their traumatic experiences.”

Here is her Facebook post.

I have finally gathered enough courage to come out with the incidents that have happened with me. I have faced sexual abuse of the highest order by the renowned Theatre personality Prof. Sudipto Chatterjee, who also happened to be the faculty of the institution I am enrolled with.

I auditioned for a play called Lysistrata, which happened to be an in house production of the institute, whereupon I was selected by Sudipto Chatterjee for the lead role of his own production ‘Bhadroja’.

After three shows of Bhadroja, he suddenly realized that a scene wasn’t working and wanted to help me out with that. He called me to his place to teach me diaphragm breathing and psycho-physical approach to acting.

He spoke to me about the traumas of rape as the scene was of a similar nature, and took me to my utmost state of vulnerability. He held me from behind to teach diaphragm breathing and explained it wasn’t sexual, because if that had been the case then I would’ve felt his hardness.

Then he asked me to lie down on the bed with my eyes closed and deliver the dialogues of the above mentioned scene. He started touching me and asked me to respond to his touch while delivering the dialogues. Then without a warning, he penetrated me with his fingers and asked me to spurt out the dialogues louder and louder.

I had became a corpse , completely non-functional. The moment I tightened my body and my voice broke, because of the suppressed cry, he withdrew. He distanced himself and explained how the process is complete and I’ve reached the emotional and mental state that was needed for the scene.

He had tried something similar on another occasion, but this time I could vocalize my ‘NO’, so he stopped.

I lived in denial, bottled up the trauma, and continued to work for the production ‘ Bhadroja ‘, avoiding him as much as I could. I took time to deal with my mental health and finally decided to come out with this incident.

When I finally confronted Sudipto Chatterjee with a written statement on whatsapp, he seenzoned and blocked me, while his wife Annesha Chakroborty, who was aware of the entire incident since the beginning, asked me to forget about it because exposing this allegations would destroy their relationship.

I had informed few other members of Sudipto Chatterjee’s theatre group ‘Spectactors’, they couldn’t take any measures against him due to his power and position however showed empathy through personal chats.

I filed an official complaint with the institution against this rapist on Monday (14th of October, 2019). Today, (i.e, Wednesday, 16th of October, 2019), I was called for a meeting at the college and during the same meeting the authority had informed me that Sudipto Chatterjee had ‘apparently‘ submitted his resignation yesterday (i.e, Tuesday, 15th of October, 2019).

This isn’t the justice I deserve.

It is an open secret in the circuit, that Sudipto Chatterjee, has been a serial sexual molester. There have been too many victims, however, he always had gotten away with this because the survivors couldn’t come out with their traumatic experiences.

I am voicing out my experience on behalf of the women who have been at the receiving end of such violence, but couldn’t. It is important that the people know that there is rapist roaming free in the eminent cultural circle, so that they may take necessary steps to exclude Sudipto Chatterjee from whatsoever association.

Because I wasn’t his first prey and neither will I be his last. We will have to stop him.

Srabasti Ghosh wrote:

I stopped working in Bangla theatre or keeping contact with any of the fraternity, as I was terribly distressed, disturbed with everything I have faced.

This is not the post where I am going to describe what Sudipto Chatterjee exactly did with me, because the incident is too long to describe (almost 2 and a half years). I was in his group, I think some people knew that.

Here, let me tell you, abuse- consent- assault stay in a overlapping position in some cases. Things are not direct to identify. It was covered with so many layers in many many subtle ways. As I cannot deny the fact that I have learned from him a lot, but at the same time, I was the one of the victims of his trap. I was 20 years old at that time, when it all started.

Now if you ask me, why I was silent for last two years, trust me, I didn't know how to talk. I didn't know how to come up with this complex situation.

After Angela, I felt this is the time, I must speak up. I hope we will get other people from theatre with us. I hope it is not going to be a two weeks' juicy story. As you know, things are not easy for us.

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