Anurag Kashyap steps down as MAMI board member
Mumbai, Oct 10 : Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap Wednesday said he has decided to step down as the board member of Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI).
The 46-year-old director has been a member of the MAMI board ever since it was set up.
Kashyap, who has been accused of shielding director Vikas Bahl in an alleged sexual harassment case, said he will come back only after clearing his name.
"In the light of the current events, I have decided to step back from my duties as a board member from MAMI until the shadow of doubt of our alleged complicitness in silence and not doing anything about it, is cleared," he tweeted.
Last year, a woman employee at Phantom Films, which had Bahl as one of the partners along side Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena, had alleged that Bahl behaved inappropriately with her during a trip to Goa in 2015.
In another tweet, Kashyap denied that he remained in the case and said that he will keep on fighting the "accusations" that come his way.
"The accused was named and shamed a long time back. For people who don't read the details & only the headlines, I have no response. A lot of women work with me and have been around, I am answerable to them & they stand witness to our actions &our struggle to do the right thing," he said.
"Let the purging continue .. it's as good a time as any for all of us to introspect, look into ourselves and see how we all have been complicit in so much, with our silence, forced by fear of consequence or by choice," he added.
The filmmaker, however, said he has begun to question himself about the interactions he had with opposite sex for a while now.
"And my greatest and simplest learning is that the line of consent is not just defined by 'No', most times it's before that 'No' is uttered. And the line of consent depends on the person that owns the consent. It varies from person to person.
"It's our conditioning, even for the most woke people. Most of us are still learning, everyone who claims to know what it means, and I talk about us men, we really don't know. None of us knows. It can't and should not be defined so simply," he wrote.
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Belagavi youth’s murder case projected as road accident, cracked in Uttara Kannada; Three arrested
Karwar: Uttara Kannada police have cracked a murder case in which a Belagavi youth was killed and his body burnt inside a car to make it appear like a road accident.
Addressing a press meet in the city, Superintendent of Police Deepan M.N. said three accused from Old Hubballi have been arrested in connection with the case. The crime was a pre-planned act driven by personal enmity, he said.
The case came to light on April 8 morning when a car (KA-04/MJ-8996) was found completely burnt in a roadside ditch near Talekumbri bus stand in Yellapur. Only charred human remains were found inside the vehicle. Initially, it was suspected to be an accident caused by overspeeding, and a case was registered at Yellapur police station based on a complaint filed by the deceased’s father, Jagannath Dhapale.
However, the father later expressed suspicion that his son’s death was not accidental, prompting a detailed investigation.
Taking the matter seriously, two special teams were formed under the leadership of Yellapur Inspector Ramesh Hanapur. On analysing technical evidence and CCTV footage, police found that it was a planned murder.
The accused have been identified as Abdul Raheem Basheer Ahmed Mujawar (32), Maulasab Bavahan Wada (36) and Dadapeer alias Aftab Mehboob Saab Balasangi (22), all chicken traders from Old Hubballi.
Police have seized the car used in the crime along with two scooters. The accused have been remanded to judicial custody.
Investigations revealed that the accused killed Nitesh Dhapale due to personal enmity and later set the car on fire along with the body to project it as an accident.
SP Deepan M.N. appreciated the efforts of Inspector Ramesh Hanapur, PSIs Rajashekhar Vandali and Siddappa Gudi, and the entire team for solving the complex case.
