First Bollywood and then, Stand up comedy, the black faces are surfacing up one by one. After biggies like Nana Patekar, Vivek Agnihotri, Utsav Chakraborty in their respective domains have made it to the limelight for all the wrong reasons, this time it’s journalism on the table. Yes, Meghnad Bose, a ‘The Quint’ employee has been mercilessly exposed by another journalist, Poulomi Das.
Read her tweets directly to experience the horror she’s been through because of this man.
I have a similar story to tell about @MeghnadBose93. But first, disclaimers: I was good friends with him in ACJ. I'd heard first-person instances of incidents of the times he'd bullied, harassed, and was emotionally abusive to the women in the TV module and not done anything https://t.co/aBn1dOB8ZP
— Poulomi (@PouloCruelo) October 6, 2018
This included him mocking women because they were untalented, telling them on their faces that they couldn't make a good anchor because they're fat & on some instances, making them cry. We've all heard horror stories about Meghnad's behaviour in ACJ and turned a blind eye to it.
— Poulomi (@PouloCruelo) October 6, 2018
With me personally, his college behaviour included asking me to sit on his lap in the auto everytime we'd go out for dinner in a group. At that time, I didn't think it was creepy 'cos we were friends & justified it, although I was quite creeped out. I sat on his lap, many times.
— Poulomi (@PouloCruelo) October 6, 2018
He was quite popular in ACJ (and still is) because of how smart he is. And if you know Meghnad, you also know about his superiority complex. He was part of almost every boys group in college and everyone knew about his behaviour. No one said a word or ever confronted him although
— Poulomi (@PouloCruelo) October 6, 2018
I ended ACJ still remaining on good terms with Meghnad. And although I distanced myself from him, we still met from time to time because both of us worked in Noida and shared a bunch of mutual friends from college. This was always in a group setting. I hardly met him alone.
— Poulomi (@PouloCruelo) October 6, 2018
That night, I remember watching a couple of episodes from Black Mirror (Waldo for sure, because he mansplained it to me) with him because I hadn't seen it. We ate food and it was fine. We lived very close to each other and his roommates were on shift so I ended up staying over.
— Poulomi (@PouloCruelo) October 6, 2018
I remember freezing when I felt his hands on me. I tried removing them but his grip was too strong. He also got closer. I kept removing his hands a couple of times more. But it didn't help. Meghnad was still not awake. I kept lying like that for a long time — atleast an hour.
— Poulomi (@PouloCruelo) October 6, 2018
He realised the movement on the bed and sort of woke up for a minute, removed his hands, and went back to sleep. I remember the exact time. It was 4.15 am because I'd immediately tried getting an Uber. But there weren't any — because well, Noida.
— Poulomi (@PouloCruelo) October 6, 2018
10 minutes later I left and hardly talked about it. I even gave him the benefit of doubt. I don't remember if I told this to my boyfriend at the time, but I did tell two of my best friends from college after (who're aware of his behaviour & who still remember the conversation)
— Poulomi (@PouloCruelo) October 6, 2018
The funny part is: I clearly remember the incident. I can replay it in my head anytime but I spent 30 minutes furiously texting my friends before writing this to ask whether I should talk about it because I don't have proof. I don't have texts that incriminate him.
— Poulomi (@PouloCruelo) October 6, 2018
It's also behaviour that has been normalised for him by everyone who was friends with him in ACJ (which includes me). We'd all gotten to the situation where we silently distanced ourselves from him but never confronted him about his behavior. He also had too much clout.
— Poulomi (@PouloCruelo) October 6, 2018
He called me just now & sent me messages that I haven't read (It involves "hearing out his apology") I also want to mention a funny coincidence: Meghnad made a documentary on Rape Culture (which is a great video to make and I have nothing against it) but the irony writes itself.
— Poulomi (@PouloCruelo) October 6, 2018
Meghnad is also a champion for feminism and women in his professional capacity right now. But there's no one who has been in the same batch as him in ACJ, who can confidently deny that he wasn't downright awful to women. Especially the ones who were in the same TV group as him.
— Poulomi (@PouloCruelo) October 6, 2018
We all roll our eyes whenever Meghnad puts out a FB status/ piece that calls out bullies, harassers, and homophobic men — because he's all of them. And yet he's never been made to realise it, because all of us have stayed silent. More than anything, that has to stop, honestly.
— Poulomi (@PouloCruelo) October 6, 2018
We’re not at all astonished that a few people, replying to Poulomi have questioned the authenticity of her allegations. Hearing truth coming out of the mouth of a victim in broad daylight is something our ‘sanskari’ society isn’t accustomed to and the backlash Tanushree Dutta had to face following her interview is indeed a solid proof of the same.
A molester who is hardly opposed turns out to be a serial molester and that’s exactly the case with Meghnad too. He has assaulted several women. Some physically, some mentally and some emotionally. Divya Karthikeyan sharing a screenshot has circumvented her anger for Bose in public.
I am so angry. @MeghnadBose93, this is assault. Own up. You have done this to more than one person apparently. This brave woman has finally come out. I really believed you were an ally. I was wrong. #MeToo #TimesUp pic.twitter.com/2BfVEhuI6N
— Divya Karthikeyan (@divya_krthk) October 6, 2018
Also, Theja Ram, Bose’s mate back from ACJ has supported Karthikeyan and tweeted about how Bose had insulted her in public and made her cry for days.
@MeghnadBose93 you had it coming. People didn't believe women who spoke about what you did. Remember when you asked me whether I was wearing a push up bra. In front of everyone in the canteen. I'm sure you will deny this. But I know. I cried for days.
— Theja Ram (@thejaram92) October 6, 2018
As a former student of @ACJIndia, I stand by @PouloCruelo and all the other students including @divya_krthk and @thejaram92 who have called out @MeghnadBose93 for sexual harassment and his sexist, misogynistic and patronising behaviour. I too have a story to tell. pic.twitter.com/83XW12Msgt
— Meenal Thakur (@thakur_meenal) October 6, 2018
Siddharth Tiwari also tweets back to Divya and wrote how everyone who is even of the slightest acquaintance to Bose knows of his filthy attitude especially for women and how this is something that is discussed in a hush but nobody has ever confronted the self–proclaimed feminist or dared to oppose.
We all knw abt his behavior and have discussed it behind closed doors. But.s it's surprising that none of our male batchmates have come out to support these brave women. We always portray ourselves as champions of feminism, why not now? Why nt not stand up for our people? https://t.co/vgjhBY575e
— Siddharth Tiwari (@Siddharth_stoic) October 6, 2018
Ironically, sex predators are now wearing well-designed masks of feminists. Bose’s video on rape culture had gone rounds on the internet and had bagged him immense popularity and widespread appreciation.
If you take a look at Meghnad’s Facebook profile, you’ll get an impression that the person is a hardcore feminist and has an authentic opinion regarding gender equality. The funniest part is, he has recently shared a post criticizing Utsav Chakraborty for having sent explicit content to women over text.
We live in a country where the delay made by a woman to speak up against assaults or molestation that she has been through is immediately called a publicity stunt but a man posting long, well-written apology letter in his timeline after being incriminated is called bravery. Cool, isn’t it? After Utsav, Meghnad has also released one such apology letter.
I am sorry. This is my unconditional apology. I am really, really sorry. pic.twitter.com/5B7gkPLjgu
— Meghnad Bose (@MeghnadBose93) October 6, 2018
We’re not buying apologies irrespective of how big a name you’re. We’re waiting to see when this man will be penalized for the sexual assaults.