20 years later, the onus is on me to take a medical test, says Vinta Nanda on rape charges against Alok Nath

Not too long ago, writer-director Vinta Nanda accused actor Alok Nath of raping her nearly two decades ago, sharing that the abuse took place while the two were working together on the television serial, Tara.

After keeping silent for all this time out of fear, Nanda says that even now, the onus is somehow back on her; an FIR was registered last week at Oshiwara Police Station and Alok Nath was booked under Indian Penal Code's Section 376 for rape.

Opening up on her #MeToo story, Vinta said, “I had filed a police complaint. It took three weeks for them to call me and say yes, we will now file an FIR, which happened last week. Along with the filing of the FIR, which normally should've led to him being arrested or at least being investigated, now the onus is back on me. I must go for a physical medical test now, twenty years later. I read in the paper where they've said I have to undergo a medical check and only then they will be able to proceed with the case.”

She recalled how back then, she didn't have the courage to go to the police: "I did take him on in that sense. We went to his house and spoke to his wife back then, but she said she can't do anything about it. She was probably as helpless. Going to the police wasn't an option for me. I just didn't have the courage. I was so terrified.”

She further added, “Silence manifests in different ways. If you're not the kind of person to be silent, if you are the person who confronts things and deals with them in an empowered way, you are worse off dealing with silence within you because you've internalized something which isn't natural to you at all. I attribute my attitude of mistrust and negativity with which I've lived it to silence, which got released when I posted that on Facebook. A lot of my friends ask me today what has happened to you, we are having cinema conversations with you now.”

Nanda first opened up about being raped by Alok Nath in an open letter on October 8. Nath denied the charges and his wife filed a defamation case against Nanda. In response to this, Nanda filed an official police complaint against the actor.