Along with rest of India, the #MeToo Movement continues to kick up a storm in Assam. First it was celebrated writer and journalist Homen Borgohain and, now, the #MeToo controversy has “shaken and stirred” the music industry of Assam.
The latest is that singer Ajanta Majumdar has charged fellow musician Arup Sharma of “sexual impropriety”. She has alleged that Arup tried to “molest” her while they were returning back in a vehicle after performing at a show at Rampur (off Guwahati) in South Kamrup on Thursday. Ajanta has since filed a police complaint against the said musician and has also decided to take “legal action” against him.
Talking to Northeast Now, Ajanta said, “I am very pained by the whole incident. This person (read Arup Sharma) was groping all over my body and was touching my private parts. I want the most severe of severest punishment to be handed down to him.”
Ajanta further stated that she was on “good terms” with Arup (since both of them were in the music industry) and such “sexual misconduct” was least expected from him. She further stated that the whole incident has left her a very “weary person, shaken from inside”.
She informed that Arup belongs to Rampur. “I have raised the issue because today he has tried to sexually assault me. Tomorrow it will be any other girl. I have full evidence against him and he has asked me for forgiveness. I have recorded his voice and will go to the court of law against him so that other men think twice before trying to outrage the modesty of a woman.”
Ajanta said that she had heard of women in the music industry being “sexually harassed” but experienced such “indecent conduct” for the first time. “We go out to perform at night completely based on the trust factor. We consider the male musicians as our own brothers. But, if these people turn out to be sexual predators, what can one do?”
However, she made it clear that she was not trying to paint all musicians with one brush and was particularly referring to Arup Sharma. She summed up by saying, “Till date, I have performed with many musicians, but everybody has been very well behaved. But, I will ensure that Arup Sharma gets “punished for his misdeeds and do not go scot-free after committing a serious crime like sexual harassment.”