#MeToo in India: The Wire's founder Sidharth Bhatia denies allegations of harassment
Sidharth Bhatia, who has been accused of alleged harassment and making inappropriate comments, has denied the allegations, adding that if the accuser comes out with details about the alleged incident, he would be ready to face an inquiry
Editor's note: Following Rituparna Chatterjee's report — Is India’s #MeToo moment here? Women are angry and they are naming and shaming their abusers, Firstpost will publish a series of articles collating personal accounts of those who have made allegations of harassment, along with responses from those who have been accused of such behaviour. This is an ongoing exercise and will be updated to reflect new developments. If you wish to draw our attention to instances of harassment you may have experienced or witnessed, tweet to us @firstpost with the hashtag #MeToo.
Also read — #MeToo in India: KR Sreenivas, Gautam Adhikari respond to sexual harassment allegations
Also read — #MeToo in India: Writer Kiran Nagarkar, photographer Pablo Bartholomew named in harassment accusations
Also read — #MeToo in India: More allegations surface against male media professionals
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After Sandhya Menon took to Twitter to post allegations against journalists KR Sreenivas and Gautam Adhikari, many other women have also used the social media platform to name men who allegedly harasssed and abused them. On 7 October, two Twitter users, Bharti Shukla (@right2livelife) and Reema Sanyal (@domeofthedevil), have accused Sidharth Bhatia, founder-editor of The Wire, of alleged harassment and making inappropriate comments. In response to a tweet by Reema Sanyal, Shukla wrote that Bhatia "had commented on me and winked at Gautam Adhikari at a DNA party."
Bhatia responded on 8 October with a statement where he has denied these allegations, as well as denied knowing the two women who posted them. He added that if Shukla came forward with details about the alleged incident, he would be ready to face an inquiry.
Wild allegations about me are doing the rounds on Twitter. @thewire_in too has been dragged into it. Here’s my statement about it. I would also urge fellow professional journalists not to fall for rumour and innuendo. pic.twitter.com/6J4uCIOwnv
— Sidharth Bhatia (@bombaywallah) October 8, 2018
Additionally, The Wire has put out a tweet stating that should any person wish to lodge a specific complaint against any of the publication's employees, they can approach its Internal Complaints Committee which is headed by managing editor Monobina Gupta.
The Internal Complaints Committee at @thewire_in is headed by our managing editor, Monobina Gupta. Anyone who wishes to make a specific complaint against The Wire's employees, including its founding editors, may email mg@thewire.in https://t.co/lf9hsYtRsX — The Wire 🏳️🌈 (@thewire_in) October 8, 2018