

"We are living in a dystopian world, where the woman who speaks up is being sued," Chatterjee says.
#Barkha trehan trial#
She is currently on trial and faces up to two years in jail, and/or a fine if convicted. But days later, he filed a criminal defamation lawsuit against Ramani. Akbar, of sexual harassment, he quit his job. Last October, when journalist Priya Ramani and more than 10 other women, including NPR editor Pallavi Gogoi, accused a former newspaper editor and government minister, M.J.

Goats and Soda Government Official Resigns As #MeToo Movement Gathers Force In India It's now illegal for a groom to ask for a dowry, but the practice is still widespread.) The #MeToo movement has given men's rights activists something else to rally against.

(Dowries are payments made by a bride's family. For decades, co-ed groups have lobbied to protect men from false convictions in rape and dowry cases. Neither Patekar nor law enforcement spokespeople have responded.Īt the same time that #MeToo activists are feeling discouraged, men's rights groups are becoming more vocal. "I'm tired of fighting alone against oppressors, bullies and a corrupt system," Dutta wrote in a statement sent to journalists on WhatsApp in June. Patekar denied any wrongdoing, and police ultimately dismissed the case citing lack of evidence. She filed a complaint in October, and the case was widely publicized.
#Barkha trehan movie#
Bollywood actress Tanushree Dutta had alleged that veteran actor Nana Patekar, now 68, touched her inappropriately on a movie set 10 years ago. On June 13, police announced they had closed the very case that's credited with first launching India's #MeToo movement last fall - without pressing any charges. "The state and the institutions meant to protect women have failed them," says Rituparna Chatterjee, a women's rights activist who created the popular Twitter account in October to chronicle the movement. India's #MeToo activists worry their movement has stalled. (India's sexual harassment law doesn't specify how allegations against the chief justice should be investigated.) He was later exonerated. And when a woman came forward with sexual harassment allegations against the chief justice of India's Supreme Court - the highest-ranking alleged offender to date - the judge himself decided who would investigate. A big Indian publishing house gave a book deal to an alleged harasser (who denied the allegations). The accuser in one case has been put on trial herself, for defamation. Several high-profile men - including a government minister, the head of a popular comedy troupe and an auto industry executive - were pressured to step down from their positions.īut nearly one year after the movement exploded across India, some activists are frustrated. It was an outpouring like conservative, patriarchal India had never seen. They exposed their alleged abusers by posting screenshots on social media of inappropriate messages. The #MeToo movement gained momentum in India last fall when scores of women came out with stories of sexual harassment. Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images The demonstration was in response to Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi's exoneration in a sexual harassment case.

Police detain women during a protest in front of the Supreme Court building in New Delhi in May.
