Indian actress takes #MeToo claims to police

The Indian actress whose public allegations of sexual harassment by a Bollywood star is sparking a string of similar #MeToo claims has filed a formal complaint, police said yesterday.

Former Miss Universe contestant Tanushree Dutta first alleged in 2008 that multi-award-winning Nana Patekar behaved inappropriately toward her during the making of a romantic comedy the same year. No action was taken at the time against Patekar and she made no formal complaint. But emboldened by the global #MeToo campaign — where women have shared accounts of harassment or assault — Dutta repeated the allegations in a recent interview and on Saturday went to the police to officially report the 2008 sexual harrassment claims.

“Dutta visited the police station last night and submitted a written complaint,” Shailesh Pasalwar, a Mumbai police inspector, told. “We are investigating the case but right now, it is not an FIR (First Information Report, or a formal investigation) but a written complaint about harassment incident,” he added. She also alleged in the interview that filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri had behaved inappropriately toward her during the shooting of the 2005 movie “Chocolate: Deep Dark Secrets.”