New Delhi: A Mumbai sessions court has said that actor Alok Nath may have been “falsely” accused of rape during the #MeToo movement. The court granted Nath anticipatory bail on Saturday (January 5).
According to the judge, writer-director Vinta Nanda may have filed a delayed rape complaint for “her own benefit”, Hindustan Times reported.
According to the judge, “(Nanda) remembers the entire incident, but she does not remember the date and month of incident. In view of all these facts, the possibility cannot be ruled out that (Nath) has falsely been roped in the crime.”
“If there is a delay in lodging the FIR, it loses the advantage of spontaneity, danger creeps in of the introduction of coloured version, exaggerated account or concocted story as a result of large number of consultations/deliberation (sic),” the order says.
Nath had no threatened Nanda against reporting the alleged crime, according to the court. “Thus, it reveals that applicant did not lodge the report immediately after alleged incident of her own benefit.” The judge has referred to Nanda as the ‘applicant’, even though it was hearing Nath’s application for bail.
Nanda had very detailed her interactions with Nath and alleged that the actor had raped her multiple times in a Facebook post. On October 17, 2018, she filed a complaint with the police.
After Nanda went public with her allegations, actor Sandhya Mridul also said that she had been harassed by Nath. Another actor, Deepika Amin, also said that Nath had harassed her during a shoot.
Nath has denied the allegations and filed a defamation case against Nanda.