TV producer Vinta Nanda accuses Alok Nath of rape, CINTAA to send him showcause notice

Television writer and producer Vinta Nanda has accused veteran actor Alok Nath of molestation and rape. The two were at the time working together on the hit television series Tara, that aired from 1993 to 1997. 

Nanda narrated her ordeal in a long Facebook post, but did not name Nath directly and instead used the term he is most identified with — ‘Sanskari'. Later, in an interview with IANS, a news agency, she took the actor’s name. 

She started her Facebook post saying that Nath’s wife was her best friend. Describing his behaviour on the sets, she wrote, “I was producing and writing the No 1 show on TV called Tara. He was after my lead girl. She was not interested in him. He was an alcoholic, shameless and obnoxious but he was also the television star of that decade, so not only was he forgiven for all his bad behaviour but many of the guys would egg him on to be his worst. My lead female actor was being harassed by him. He would mess with her on the sets and everyone would be silent.” Nanda was referring to actress Navneet Nishan, who was then playing the titular character of Tara.  

Vinta, along with the senior officials, decided to dismiss Nath from the show, but the management later demanded that Nath be brought back with a twist in the plot. After the new plot didn't go well with the audience, Tara and four other shows produced by Nanda for the same channel, were taken off air. 

According to Nanda, she was later invited for a party at Nath's house which was to be attended by a few other friends too. “As the evening flowed, my drinks were mixed and I began to feel strange. Then at around 2am I left his house. Nobody followed me or offered to drop me home, which was what was rather unusual. All I knew at the time was that I had to get home. I could sense it wouldn’t be right for me to stay there any longer. I started to walk home on the empty streets although the distance to my own house was long,” she added.

“Midway I was accosted by this man who was driving his own car and he asked me to sit in it and said he would drop me home. I trusted him and sat in his car. I have faint memory after that. I can remember more liquor being poured into my mouth and I remember being violated endlessly. When I woke up the next afternoon, I was in pain. I hadn’t just been raped, I was taken to my own house and had been brutalised. I couldn’t get up from my bed. I told some of my friends but everybody advised me to forget about it and move on,” she wrote.

Nanda also revealed the reason for staying quiet all these years. “Here’s the most difficult part, the main reason why I have taken so long to come out with the truth. While I was working on this new series, he asked me to come to his house again and I went to allow him to violate me. I needed the job and didn’t want to leave it as I needed the money. It was after this that I quit. I was completely shattered by then. It was a nervous breakdown I was going through, but I was trying to be brave,” she added. 

In a latest development, the Cine And TV Artistes' Association (CINTAA) has decided to send a showcase notice to Alok Nath. General secretary of CINTAA, actor Sushant Singh, informed Nanda about their action via a tweet. “Dear @vintananda I am so so sorry. As @CintaaOfficial a show-cause Notice will be sent to @aloknath first thing in the mrng, why he shudnt b expld. Unfortunately we’ve to follow the due process. I urge u to file a complaint against this vile creature, we extend u full support [sic].”

Unorganised nature of film industry makes it difficult to deal with sexual abuse: CINTAA's Sushant Singh

Cinetsaan.com tried contacting Nath, but he remained unavailable for comment.