Sexual harassment allegations: Complaint filed against TVF CEO Arunabh Kumar

Arunabh Kumar

Advocate Rizwan Siddiqui on Thursday filed a complaint against Arunabh Kumar, CEO of the digital entertainment start-up The Viral Fever (TVF), after a woman accused Kumar of sexual harassment.

Siddiqui said he has filed a third-party FIR against Kumar.

"I have filed a complaint. The complaint would translate into FIR hopefully by tomorrow (Friday). I have filed the complaint with the women's commission as well," Siddiqui told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

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It all started when a female 'staffer' under the pseudonym Indian Fowler posted a blog at medium.com, accusing Kumar of sexual advances at the workplace, and his several attempts to exploit her.

In the response section, another female employee shared her ordeal at TVF, saying that she "had to face a similar experience while working there. I felt exploited and cheated and I left my job under very bad circumstances".

When no one came forward to file a legal complaint against Kumar, Siddiqui decided to come forward and initiate the process.

"In these kinds of cases not a lot of women want to come forward and take any kind of action because they are so scared and worried about their name and reputation... So I also came forward," he said, adding that he also filed an FIR against Kamaal R. Khan "when he was troubling all the heroines on Twitter".

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Explaining the legal system, Siddiqui said: "The law is very clear that except of certain offences, any third party can file an FIR."

For now, he is waiting for his complaint to translate into FIR, and want the investigation to start soon.

"If that doesn't happen, I will take it to the next level and drag the police officers too," Siddiqui said.