No laughing matter

Indian Twitter has been filled with rage over the last 24 hours and rightly so. 

Popular comedian Utsav Chakraborty has been called out by several women for sending unsolicited pictures of his genitals and indulging in perverted behaviour. 

Writer and comic Mahima Kukreja opened up about how Utsav sent her a picture of his private parts and later lamented that his career would be ruined if she spoke up about it. Post this, several women opened up to Mahima about being subjected to harassment by Utsav who asked them for ‘nudes’ and topless photos, both on Snapchat and Twitter. Utsav, on the other hand, gave out a rather unconvincing statement where there was no sign of an apology and he blamed his autoimmune illness for his behaviour.

Reacting to this, comedian Seema Rao says, “Any picture sent has to be consensual, even if it’s the man’s own selfie. I’m glad girls are raising their voices. Men need to understand their boundaries. So many Indian men learn from what movies have taught them no means keep hitting on a woman until she likes you! Also, coming to the comedy circuit, just because a female comic has adult jokes in her set , it doesn’t mean a fellow male comedian can make such advances towards her.”

As for All India Bakchod, the comedy collective that Utsav was once part of, it issued an immediate statement stating that they’d be removed the comedian’s videos from their channel. A  city-based comic who was supposed to work with Utsav on a comedy tour reveals, “We removed him from our line-up after we heard of his untoward behaviour towards women.”

When the news of Utsav’s misbehavior broke, another Twitter user came forward accusing social media celebrity Anurag Verma (known for his vines and rib-tickling tweets) of behaving inappropriately and asking for nudes. Anurag later apologised and ridiculously stated that he saw ‘asking for nudes’ as a meme. 

Film editor Archana Ammal Kumar expresses, “What’s truly appalling is that women have risked their mental health to talk about their trauma, and all they receive in return is cruel jibes and feeble apologies. It’s worrying that women have to give up their survivor status to face their own demons and bring creeps in line, when the fair thing would be for men to correct their peers and friends when they hear a woman’s story. The silence from seemingly ‘decent men’ is deafening! No longer should sexual predators be allowed to hide behind their blue ticks and their facade of successful careers and pseudo character endorsements. We must believe survivors, their stories are important. The only way the law can take its course is if we encourage and support survivors to come forward with their stories, promising swift criminal action.”

Talking about the dilemma women face when opening up about harassment, stand-up comic Sneha Suhas, who was recently subjected to vile sexual threats online says, “I was shaken and had to think before speaking up what if I get harrassed/victim-shamed for it. I was wary of people blaming me for being a public figure and making edgy jokes when men are around.”

The Utsav Chakraborty incident has sparked  off a #MeToo movement on Indian Twitter and we truly hope that this gives more courage to survivors of sexual assault/harassment to come forward and share their experiences without lesser/no fear.