It was a gruesome day for writer-director Vinta Nanda as Alok Nath’s counsel Ashok Saraogi assassinated her character in court while defending the veteran actor, a leading daily reports. Almost two weeks ago, Vinta, in a chilling Facebook post, accused Nath of sexually assaulting her around 20 years ago. Saraogi, in reference to her post in which she admitted to “smoking, drinking and being a liberated woman”, said in the court, “This is how she certifies her character.”
In fact, Vinta was addressed as a “storyteller” as Saraogi said in the court, according to the report, “A person is unconscious, over drunk and does not know when she reached her home and who took her there. She just realised that she has experienced pain, but she doesn’t say where the pain is. After drinking you get a hangover, that too causes pain.”
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Vinta Nanda photographed in Mumbai.[/caption]
Vinta, in fact, was also censured for ‘exposing’ Nath on Facebook instead of taking legal action against him. “If it is a criminal offence there are provisions. If the police fails to take action, you can approach the higher authorities. There cannot be a media trial on the basis of a complaint,” Saraogi said.
In her post, Vinta had not named Alok Nath but had referred to him as ‘sanskaari’ actor – as he is fondly addressed on account of the virtuous roles that he plays on screen. However, the internet didn’t even take minutes to identify that it was Alok Nath, who she was writing about. While arguing in court, Dhruti Kapadia, who appeared for Vinta, spoke about the aforementioned point as well, adding, “This incident ruined it and by writing about it, she was exercising her right to freedom of expression.”
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File photo of Alok Nath.[/caption]
The report also states that Dhruti said that Vinta received immense support after narrating her ordeal online while several other women also opened up about the harassment that they had been subjected to by Nath. “What does a woman have to gain by coming out and saying that she was raped. And we all know where the pain would be if a person is raped,” Dhruti argued in response to Saraogi’s comment.
The court heard arguments of both parties for almost three hours on October 25.
