‘Work of fiction’: Comedian Sanjay Rajoura responds to allegations of sexual misconduct

Stand-up comedian Sanjay Rajoura has refuted allegations of sexual misconduct and coercion against him. In a statement on his official Facebook account, the ‘Aisi Taisi Democracy’ member said that “he has nothing to hide or fear.” An anonymous Instagram user had accused Rajoura of sexual harassment on Wednesday, 22 September. The comedian has received severe backlash on social media after the accusations surfaced. The comedian said that the allegations were “a work of complete fiction”, adding that he would be happy to provide proof to any agency for countering the allegations.

The 48-year-old also said that while he was not questioning anyone’s right to remain anonymous while calling out instances of harassment, his “point is that the author of the post themselves say they DON’T want to give any proof.” Rajoura said that this refusal to give proof raises doubt about the truth of the post. He called for some transparency regarding the person who had levelled the allegations against him and said that he still stood in complete solidarity with the MeToo movement. On 22 September, an anonymous user on Instagram, who goes by the alias Tara, accused Rajoura of sexual coercion and misconduct. The user, who identifies as a cis-woman in her 20s, said that when she initially came in contact with Rajoura, she was very impressed by his views.

As per the allegations, the comedian wanted to “record an explicit sex video” with the woman, later settling on a “non-naked but intimate video”. The woman claims she has never received the video from Rajoura. She has also accused him of coercing her to perform a sexual act in a public space as well as deleting their personal chats so that it could not reach other people. The post said that the woman was posting the incidents to unburden herself as she wants to move on to a better life.