TVF founder Arunabh Kumar acquitted in sexual harassment case, court says complaint 'filed out of grudge'

Arunabh Kumar, actor and founder of The Viral Fever (TVF), has been acquitted in a sexual harassment case of 2017 by a Mumbai court. The court’s ruling said that there was an "unexplained and unreasonable" delay in filing the First Information Report (FIR). Arunabh had been accused of sexual harassment by a former employee five years ago.

Based on the complaint, the Andheri police had in 2017 registered a case against Kumar under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 354 A (causing sexual harassment) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman). The Metropolitan Magistrate (Andheri court) A I Shaikh acquitted him in September and the order was made available now.

As per a PTI report, the ruling said that “there is no concrete evidence produced by the prosecution”. In its judgement, the court added, “There is material discrepancy and contradiction. There is even unreasonable and unexplained delay in filing the FIR, which raised clouds on the case of the prosecution.” It can even be said the complaint is “filed out of grudge or rivalry on reason of business” between the accused and the informant, the court further said.

Mumbai court acquits TVF founder Arunabh Kumar in sexual harassment case of 2017, rules that there was "unexplained and unreasonable" delay in filing FIR

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 28, 2022

The prosecution had alleged that the incident had taken place in 2014 but the complaint was filed three years later after the alleged victim came across other women, who had made similar accusations against Kumar on social media. With regard to witness testimonies, the court said that they were “interest witnesses”, who are involved in the same industry as the accused and that prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Arunabh Kumar, an IIT graduate, founded TVF in 2011. In 2014, TVF moved from short-form content creation on YouTube to making India’s first long-form web content in shows like Permanent Roommates and Pitchers. Kumar acted as one of the leads in the latter. The second season of Pitchers was released on Zee5 recently.