Doctor Viral Desai v/s struggling TV actress: Yet another case of #MenToo?

Doctor Viral Desai's case: Yet another MenToo?

A love affair between a doctor and a television actress. She gets greedy and lodges a rape complaint against the doctor. The doctor gets court relief wherein the judge says that it was possibly a love affair gone sour.

It may sound like a script of a Bollywood pot boiler with all the twists and turns. But that’s not the case. This is a nightmare which Dr Viral Desai, a noted cosmetic and plastic surgeon from Santacruz in Mumbai has been living with since August when the television actress decided to file a complaint against the doctor for allegedly sexually assaulting her.

Troubled past: A habitual complainant?

Dr Desai is not the first person who is victimised. The 43-year-old television actress has a troubled past and is fighting a bitter divorce battle with her estranged husband. During the marriage, she had filed several complaints against her husband and also against a photographer.

The actress, in November 2018, had filed a complaint with the Malad police against a professional celebrity photographer Mahender Soni for allegedly harassing her. She stated that he has been sending her offensive messages and all this has been happening since September 2018, when the photographer shot her portfolio. Denying the allegations, Soni said that the actress does not pay for her photoshoots. According to Soni, when he asked for his fees, the actress went and filed a police complaint.

The actress also has a troubled marriage. She has custody of her two children and is amidst a divorce case in the family court.

The Extortion bid

Dr Desai’s troubles started a few days before the FIR was filed against him by the actress. Her advocate Satish Agarwal approached doctor’s advocate Manish Acharya with extortion demands by threatening to file an FIR against the doctor.

Acharya has written a letter to Santacruz police requesting the investigating authority to collect CCTV footage of August 11 and 12, 2019, from the office of advocate Satish Agarwal wherein he (advocate) is seen making extortion demand for not filing an FIR against Dr Desai. Acharya has said in the letter that Agarwal and the complainant had collected details of doctor’s finances, including his assets details, Income Tax returns and papers relating to his divorce settlement much before filing of the FIR.

“It will also be clear from the said recording that their purpose in doing so was to extort money by showing the consensual relationship between the complainant and Dr Viral Desai as rape,” reads the letter to the police.

Advocate Acharya has also filed a petition with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa pointing out gross misconduct on the part on the complainant’s advocate. In the petition to the Bar Council, Acharya has pointed out how Agarwal has tried to bring disrepute to the noble profession by his conduct “for the sake of making money by all foul means and for cheap publicity”. Acharya has sought that Agarwal be debarred from practicing law.

Facts which show that it’s a consensual relationship gone sour case

In his anticipatory bail application, Dr Desai had submitted ample evidence in the form of photographs and WhatsApp chats showing that he and the complainant were in a consensual relationship since last few years.

Even after the alleged incident of rape, the complainant took the doctor for dinner from his clinic and continued to have chats with him on a regular basis. This was all recorded in the CCTV cameras at the doctor’s clinic and at the restaurant where they had dinner. The relevant footage was submitted before the sessions court.

Dr Desai also submitted details of hotel stays in Mumbai and outstation where he and the actress had gone for a few days in the last one-and-half years. He even produced their photographs which were taken at these hotels.

Dr Desai’s counsels Abad Ponda and Parvez Memon, senior partner of MZM Legal, also pointed out to the court that the complainant is amidst a divorce case in the family court and hence there could not have been a relationship between the two on the basis of a promise of marriage since the complainant was already married.

Court verdict nails it

Sessions judge has granted anticipatory bail to Dr Desai observing that there was a possibility of love affair between a noted cosmetic surgeon and a television actress, a sessions court has granted anticipatory bail or pre arrest bail to the doctor on the ground that it was possibly a love affair.

Sessions judge Kalpana S. Hore granted pre arrest bail to Dr Viral Desai who was accused of rape by a 43-year-old television actress observing, “I have gone through the F.I.R. as well as photographs, WhatsApp messages, CCTV footage and booking receipt, it shows that possibility cannot be ruled out the complainant and applicant /accused having love affair.”

Other means of defaming the doctor

On September 3, a City Civil court had restrained the television actress from publishing defamatory material on social media.

However, she created a false page on social media and was using it to publish defamatory and intimidatory material against the doctor. Dr Desai learnt about this after his friends informed about the same after having received friend’s request from the said social media page.

Dr Desai has filed a complaint with the cyber police, on September 9, 2019, alleging extortion, defamation and criminal intimidation by the television actress.

Rising instances of #MenToo

If one looks at the trend, there have been growing instances of MenToo cases. In most of the cases, a false complaint is lodged against a man, who suffers a media trial till the police and/or court gives him a clean chit. We all remember what happened to Karan Oberoi and Dr. Viral Desai’s case seems to be no different.