Amidst the revelations the #metoo movement has been bringing into focus, an incident that occurred on the 26th of this month has stirred up discussions and confusion everywhere as bizarre footage of a seemingly distressed woman stripping in front of cops went viral across social media.
The woman in the videos has been identified as model Megha Sharma, who resides in a luxury high rise apartment complex in Lokhandwala, Mumbai. Footage of multiple events from that night were released, some posted by Ms.Sharma herself. Here's what we can deduce from it:
Sharma had requested the security guard of her Apartment to get her cigarettes at 1am in the night.
The guard refused to run the errand and refused to let any other guards run it for her. However, he provided her with the number of the shopkeeper.
Sharma then proceeded to get them herself. Upon her return, the CCTV footage shows a brief discussion between the two which then escalates into a physical altercation, Sharma seemingly initiating it.
The rest of the footage, assumed to be from other residents of the area, shows an irritated Sharma being surrrounded by 8-9 policemen and the Guard, being stopped from going upstairs to her house and being forced to come to the station with no belongings or proper clothes on. She allegedly was polite about coming the next day, and the video shows her offering her lawyers number and even agreeing to come along if she was just allowed to change. The security guard then shut down the elevator, and Sharma, now aggravated, questioned why there is no lady constable and why she is being stopped from going home at 3am.
A series of bizarre events followed, where she broke down and stripped hoping it would drive the men away, yelling at everyone. The background shows many of the residents now at the scene witnessing the events.
From the footage, it is difficult to figure out who is at fault here.
According to Section 46(4) of CrPc, women cannot be taken to a police station before sunrise or after sunset, but the policemen clearly were inexplicably and oddly determined to take her away for interrogation, not even letting her change even when she agreed to go. It is interesting to note that Sharma was the one who made the call to the police against the guard.
Over that, Ms.Sharma claims that she started hitting the guard after she met with downright slut shaming and demeaning comments about her clothes and character after she politely asked him why he couldn't run a simple errand. The guard could be held at fault if the claims turn out to be true, although assaulting anyone, man or woman, unless out of selfe defense, can be considered a criminal offense.
The event that attracted the most attention and discussion is Ms. Sharma stripping down to her underwear out of nowhere. One could see this as an attempt to drive them away.
However the videos show her screaming 'Is this what you wanted to see? Look at me, is this what you wanted?' among other loud accusations of 'Attempting to mess with a woman's dignity'. These particular lines raises the question nobody seems to be asking; was this an attempt to make it a case of sexual offence?
In a country where sexual abuse is finally being taken seriously, the phenomenon of associating any unpleasant incident or altercation that involves a woman to sexual offence, even if it doesn't have anything to do with sexual misconduct or even undertones can prove to be very dangerous. When the line between sexual misconduct and plain beefs blurs, actual cases of these offenses can become just as difficult to serve justice to as they were all these years, if not more.
What went down with Ms. Sharma that night, from what we know, had nothing to do with sexual abuse, although attempts were made to make it appear like it did. It appears to only be a case of a physical altercation. It goes without question that justice should be served for whoever was the victim that night. We still don't know who was really at fault, but the question here isn't who the perpetrator is, but if women are being reduced to potential sexual offence cases and #metoo stories.
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