Mumbai: Arunabh Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of The Viral Fever, found himself in more trouble on Thursday, after one more victim came forward and filed an FIR saying that she was harassed by him.
On Wednesday night, Kumar had been booked for sexual harassment and insult to a woman’s modesty under the Indian Penal Code after a 27-year-old woman registered a complaint against him with the MIDC police.
Police sources said the second victim reached the Versova police station on Thursday evening. The 25-year-old alleged that she, too, had been harassed by Kumar while working in close association with him on a project for TVF in 2014. After recording a detailed statement from the complainant, the Versova police booked Kumar for sexual harassment. Police are verifying her claims, sources said.
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Assistant Commissioner of Police Arun Bhagat, D.N. Nagar division, confirmed that the FIR had been filed against Kumar.
The MIDC police will soon begin inquiries with the employees of The Viral Fever who were working on the same project as the frst complainant. The woman, who stays in Mumbai, has said in her statement that she was working independently as a production assistant in 2016 when TVF hired her on a contractual basis for a project in May. It was during this period that Kumar sexually harassed her, she said.
“We are finding out who else was working on the same project and will be conducting corroborative inquiries with them to verify the allegations made by the complainant. We will start recording statements from them as soon as we have a full list of all the people involved in the project,” said an officer with the MIDC police.
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The victim has alleged that Kumar touched her inappropriately on more than one occasion and also made several comments that made her uncomfortable. She had earlier made the same claims on social media, and investigating officials said her statement was in sync with her social media post.
“The complainant said that Kumar misbehaved with her several times throughout the duration of the project, but did not contact her after that,” the officer said.
A team of policemen visited the TVF office in Andheri on Thursday to begin inquiries. Kumar was not present at the time, and officials said they asked the TVF staff to provide his current location and contact details.