A Mumbai Sessions Court on Friday refused the anticipatory bail plea of veteran actor and rape-accused Alok Nath. In October this year, at the peak of the #MeToo movement in India, a renowned screenwriter-producer took to Facebook to share an account of being sexually harassed and raped by Alok Nath 19 years ago. Although the survivor did not name Nath in her post (referring to him instead as the ‘most sanskaari’ actor in Bollywood), she did lodge a 5-page complaint and pressed rape charges against him at the Oshiwara Police Station on October 16. Several former colleagues of Nath also corroborated his alleged predatory behavior before the media. 

In order to avoid arrest, Nath had filed an anticipatory bail plea at the Dindoshi Sessions Court which was rejected on Friday. He can now be arrested anytime as per the law. Nath had earlier skipped an appearance before the Cine & TV Artistes Association (CINTAA) and was unavailable when he was served the legal notice.

The #MeToo movement picked up pace in Bollywood when Tanushree Dutta accused Nana Patekar of sexually harassing her on the sets of the 2009 film Horn Ok Please. Several Hindi film celebrities, such as Sajid Khan, Vikas Bahl, Rajat Kapoor, Kailash Kher and Anu Malik were eventually ousted by several women within the industry.