#MeToo: Woman who accused Vikas Bahl won't pursue case, but says she still stands by her claims

Nearly three weeks after a former employee of the now-dissolved Phantom Films accused director Vikas Bahl of sexually assaulting her in 2015, she has decided not to legally pursue the case, albeit adding that she still stands behind her accusations.

The lawyer of the victim - who had worked on the production house's 'Bombay Velvet'- presented her statement on Tuesday during the hearing of the Rs 10 crore defamation case filed by Bahl against his former partners Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane. The three directors were also present at the Bombay HC.

Also Read: #MeToo In India - Complete Coverage


Navroz Seervaia, the advocate of the woman who has accused Bahl, put forward a statement on behalf of her client in which she expressed unwillingness to pursue the matter further with any formal complaint. When asked by Justice S J Kathawalla, Seervai said that she wants to put the episode behind her and resume normal life.

The one-page statement said an "absence of a written complaint or FIR does not and cannot take away from the truth of my statements. "I affirm and stand by" the claims.

She added that the victim did not believe in going to the police and thus did not want to pursue the case.

Bahl's lawyer, Janak Dwarkadas, said that the accusations had affected the director's reputation and work, and that the victim should be subjected to cross examination, "It can't be that Bahl's reputation can be tarnished at the behest of the victim and she would be dropped from the hearing."

Bahl had earlier called his former partners opportunists who allegedly created a whole campaign against him and also made him look responsible for the downfall of the production house.

However, Kashyap and Motwane's counsel, Venkatesh Dhond, said that just because the victim does not want to register the case, doesn't mean it didn't happen. He went on to add that when the girl had complained three years ago, the film-makers had confronted Bahl who 'broke down and confirmed the incident' and promised to go to rehab.

Defending the victim's decision to not go to the police, Dhond said, "Going to the police is a joke, our police is not sensitive to even complaints of rape. They would have questioned her character. Thus, no one is surprised that the victim does not want to register a complaint. This is a case with larger public repercussion."

The HC adjourned the hearing to Friday, October 25, after Madhu Mantena's advocate, Vineet Naik, said that the Phantom Films' fourth partner was not present when Bahl had confessed to Kashyap. Kashyap's lawyer claimed that both he and Mantena were present when Bahl confessed.

Earlier this month, just 2 days after announcing the dissolution of Phantom Films, Kashyap and Motwane had substantiated the claims by a former employee against Bahl.