Actress Tanushree Dutta who ushered in India's #MeToo movement with accusations of sexual misdemeanor against actor Nana Patekar, has helped many women voice experiences that were shuttered and festering. With women naming and shaming predators in the film industry, media houses, art and literature, Padma Bhushan Jatin Dasm was today named as well.


The painter, who is also the father of actor, director and writer Nandita Das, is accused by Nisha Bora, of kissing her in 2004 when she went to assist him with his work. While the first meeting passed off without any untoward incident, the painter, she says, groped her during the second meeting.


Read her account here:

"
#MeToo Jatin Das
It's been a long time coming, but here it is. This is for every woman and sexually vulnerable person reading this story. It is not your shame or your guilt, no matter what the circumstances.

I met Jatin Das in the summer of 2004 at a dinner event at the India
International Centre,Delhi. The dinner had been hosted by my father-in law. I was introduced to him by my family. I was 28 years old, and had
been married for a little under a year. I was visiting Delhi from Bengaluru, and had a few days to spare.


Jatin chatted with me for a bit, and asked what I did and whether I had the time and willingness to assist him for a few days to organize his work material. I was delighted to say yes. It would be an honour to work with a brilliant artist, to have the opportunity to see and handle his priceless art close up. And to top it all, he was Nandita Das' father.


"It was a real fangirl moment. I told my family about the conversation,and that I would be visiting him the next day to assist him.


"Day 1- He called me to his house (which wasin Asiad Village, I think). I recall he had a new born child (by my calculation, must be about 14-15 years now), and that there was plenty of baby bawling. We worked in his work room which was near the entrance,and his open verandah of sorts. He spoke at length about his pankha project and his big dream for his art school in Orissa. I did some sorting and organizing work for him. At the end of the day, he gave me a beautiful autographed book on his pankha project, and a poster of one of his solo shows in a museum abroad. (At some point of time several years later, I experienced so much trauma
looking at this material, I put it in the garbage). He called me back to his studio the next day.


"Day 2 - I visited Jatin in his studio,which was in Khidki Village. I don't recall the time of day, but that it was well within daylight hours. He poured himself some whiskey; offered me one too,but I refused. It was a wonderfully cluttered space filled with creative energy. The next thing I knew, he attempted to grab me. I wriggled out of his embrace, flustered. Then he did it again. This time, he managed a clumsy kiss on my lips. I recall the feeling of his beard on my skin.I pushed him away, and moved away from him. At that moment, he said, "Come on,it would be nice". Or something like that. I have heard those words quite a bit in my head over
time,but they are distant echoes now.What I recall clearly was his disbelief that I was pushing back. I picked up my bag, stepped out into the sun, and ran home. Never to speak aboutit. Until now."


Nisha Bora then talks about why she is naming Das after all these years, why she was silent for so long and how Nandita Das tried to contact her asking for an assistant for her father.


Meanwhile, MoS External Affairs MJ Akbar continues to walk tall.


Image: Painter Jatin Das