As TVF's Arunabh Kumar remains untraceable, social media has already made up its mind

Mar 30, 2017 13:31:52 IST

On 29 March, 2017, an FIR was filed by a victim who accused The Viral Fever (TVF) CEO and founder Arunabh Kumar of sexual harassment. Just one day before this complaint was lodged, the Mumbai Police said that it would be closing the investigation case, citing the reason that no victims had come forward thus far, and that complaints on social media cannot be considered.

Now, Indian Express reports that the Mumbai Police has summoned Kumar. "Based on the complaint of a victim, a case under Section 354 (A) and 509 of the IPC has been registered… against Arunabh Kumar,” Mumbai Police said.

A police official has told Hindustan Times that they are trying to search for him but they can't find him. A senior police official said, “It is a non-bailable offence and we will definitely be opposing his bail plea. We want to arrest him.”

Meanwhile, the emergence of similar accounts of harassment by Kumar on social media, coupled with the news that the case would be dropped led to a debate which featured a multiplicity of opinions.

Some felt that Arunabh Kumar had suffered as a consequence of the blog written by Indian Fowler, others predicted that no victims would come forward and still others criticised the victims for making workplace harassment a more problematic issue. There were a significant number of people calling the complainants liars.

Arunabh Kumar's personal Facebook account is populated by posts where he has been tagged by people either criticising him or supporting and protecting him. Kumar has neither responded to any of these posts, nor has he deleted them or untagged himself.

Here are the conversations that ensued on Twitter after news of the case being closed had been released.

@firstpost @TheQtiyapaGuy @TheViralFever after all that mud slinging!!!So those girls were lying ??

— Purple (@Dafruity) March 28, 2017

Several called the entire episode a planned publicity stunt.

@firstpost to sara khel viewers & followers badhane ka tha uske blog par.. Master stroke by so called victim!! @TheQtiyapaGuy @TheViralFever — Jodi No.1 👫 (@21century_kant) March 29, 2017

@firstpost @KyaUkhaadLega @TheQtiyapaGuy @TheViralFever it's confirmed, then... It was all a PR exercise.... Doob maro TVF — तर्क-वाचस्पती (@crashhgate) March 28, 2017

Many felt that Kumar's reputation was now tarnished.

@crashhgate Doob maro TVF?? The guy's character got assassinated and you are blaming him for that? @TheQtiyapaGuy @TheViralFever — Elvis priceless (@Nsihnat) March 28, 2017

Some felt that this would help Kumar to know whom to trust in the future.

To all those who had already passed their judgements on him. I hope now @TheQtiyapaGuy knows who are his true friends. @TheViralFever https://t.co/9tT0XwtcIs — the FAKE Blogger!!! (@jitu_87) March 29, 2017

Some even advised Kumar to file a defamation suit.

@firstpost @TheQtiyapaGuy @TheViralFever You must file defamation case against that blog — 100Rabh (@iSaurabhSri) March 28, 2017

A certain section of people were convinced that Kumar, not the complainants, was the real victim in this situation.

This is really, really fishy. This puts the whole matter in an entirely new light. Who's the real victim here? https://t.co/Lf2a5hEXBi — The Bad Doctor (@DOCTORATLARGE) March 29, 2017

Women were disappointed in their own gender for not reporting the case to the police.

I'm so disappointed in the women who claimed that they were harassed but not even 1 came forward. Joke's on us. https://t.co/VIksyfzS5A — Kalyani Adhav (@KalyaniAdhav) March 28, 2017

Women were also blamed for contributing to the issue of workplace harassment.

And that's how these women make it difficult for real sexual harassment at workplace cases. https://t.co/eZTYNfRu5s — Maya (@Sharanyashettyy) March 28, 2017

Feminists were criticised and called trolls.

@firstpost @TheQtiyapaGuy @TheViralFever yeh saley Sabhi feminist hotey hi Janam sey troll hai

— Bhargav (@g87_p) March 28, 2017

But some still believed that there is merit in the accusations, and that Kumar would persist in the behaviours that he has been accused of.

Case closed as Nobody complained No surprises Bet @TheQtiyapaGuy will even now go ahead & make more films on marital rape. Men dont learn https://t.co/ciSeqXxsWd — MRA Amit Deshpande (@antidespondent) March 28, 2017

Some even questioned if the first victim to file an FIR was triggered to do so because the case was dropped.

Wait this was yday. So just cause of this a victim filed complaint today? WTF is going on. https://t.co/kMw4bjjQ2n — Son lux (@littmannverses) March 29, 2017

Several say that they don't know what the truth is, that they are confused about the situation.