Over the past few weeks, a movement popularly referred to as the #METOO movement in India has drawn a lot of limelight. It all began with Tanushree Dutta (a Bollywood actress) accusing her colleague Nana Patekar of sexually harassing her and as soon as this news went on air there was a flood of debates that went on, some backing the lady and others questioning her integrity.
And before the issue could even settle many other women came up and spoke about the incidents when they were being physically or mentally abused by their male counterparts.
The movement witnessed names of some very high profile people like MJ Akbar(Union Minister), Rahul Johri(BCCI president), Sajid Khan, Chetan Bhagat and many others.
When I was going through the stories of the victims, I felt quite disgusted, wondering how could someone, of that stature and level of education possibly indulge in something like that.
However, when a part of me was completely empathetic towards the victims another asked that what if all the stories that have been brought up are not true or they are fabricated and just aimed at humiliating the person being accused of various charges. Usually, when any person is charged with such serious allegations, the accused before being actually convicted gets a lot of hate from the society and immediately that person becomes the most hated individual.
Many women who have shared their #MeToo stories have come-out with proofs in terms of screenshots of obscene messages shared with them by their male friends or colleagues and many have just made statements accusing someone.
I am in no way saying that those women who gathered courage and chose to tell the world about their sufferings are lying or cooking up stories for the sake of getting some attention but what I am saying is that the men who are being accused should be allowed to represent themselves, they should be given the chance of telling their side of the story as well.
I am a believer of the fact “where there’s smoke there’s fire” and when you hear many women accusing a particular person of the same offence, being repeated over time, it means that the fact hold becomes even more clear and such people, in my opinion, should be immediately be produced before the court of law and necessary actions should be taken.
Last but not the least, it’s high time we realize that such actions in which a woman’s dignity is hurt and they are made to feel like objects should be stopped in every manner and whenever something like this movement comes up, then the accused should, as early as possible, be questioned and if found guilty be subsequently punished.