Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; June 18, 2019)

He gets emotional every time he narrates his month-long ordeal behind the bars, after being accused of rape and extortion by a tantrik-cum-healer.

But the experience hasn’t made Karan Oberoi bitter. The actor, who has become the poster boy of #Men-Too movement, says, “This isn’t against any other movement. In fact, it complements it. Women, too, suffer when men who are close to them, are implicated in false cases.” In an interview after his release from jail, Karan talks about his stay in prison, the support he got from friends and family, and his future plans. Excerpts...

You were arrested on May 5. What exactly happened on that day?
I was about to sleep around 10 pm, when the cops came to my house. They asked me to accompany them to the police station, but refused to divulge the reason. At first, I thought that it was a case of mistaken identity. At the station, the investigating officer asked me to submit my phone. After checking it, he told me about the rape charge. I told him that I am innocent, and in fact, I had filed an NC on October 17, 2018, citing harassment by the lady in question. However, he asked me to send for my laptop immediately. They didn’t even allow me to call anyone in the family, but fortunately, I managed to contact my sister, Gurbani.

When was the last time you contacted the complainant?
A few days before I filed the NC against her. She had called me, saying that she is in trouble. However, when I met her, she tried to hit me. That’s when I realised that she is beyond help and nothing could be done to change her mind.

The complainant has claimed that you were in a relationship with her. Is that true? How and where did you first meet her, and at what point did your association turn sour?
We met on a dating app, where she introduced herself as a healer and astrologer. Then we shifted to WhatsApp and slowly got talking. She did not tell me that she was into witchcraft and voodoo, but I soon realised that something was amiss. She would often tell me that I am a misfit and that I needed someone like her to protect me. These conversations started making me uncomfortable, and finally, she told me that she is a wiccan, who has been practising black magic and occult for years. She told me that she could change my destiny by giving me the power to control anyone in the industry. She also claimed that she could cause irreparable damage to anyone she wants to. So, a few months after meeting her, I told her that I wanted to end our association. In fact, I was so scared that I started avoiding her. Then one day, she told me that she wanted to end the occult practice and take up another profession; she wanted to start by designing my home. I was foolish enough to believe her, and even gave her some money to do up my home. I thought I was helping someone. She was extremely short-tempered and would flare up over petty things. After one such fight, she left the work mid-way and I had to ask somebody else to step in. But she had an issue with that, too. She landed up at my house, and alleged that she had been used, abused and discarded. But the matter didn’t end there. She would land up at my building and ask me to meet her. If I refused, she would threaten to harm my reputation. I tried to reason with her for the longest time, but finally, I asked the security guards to not allow her on the premises. Then, she started leaving gifts with the building’s security guards, and if I refused to take them, she would threaten to burn the gifts in front of the gate and create a huge tamasha. It was nothing short of a nightmare, and I didn’t know who to confide in. Once, my mother fell ill and we couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. Around that time, she called and asked me, if my mother was alright. When I broke down, she told me, ‘You don’t know my powers’. Four days later, my father, too, fell ill. That is when I surrendered in terms of accepting her calls. I was scared that she would harm my family. However, I blocked her calls, eventually. I also had to block her from social media because she would stalk me. Not the one to give up, she started texting me at random hours from different numbers. She once told me that she has slit her wrist and even threatened to have me booked for abetment of suicide. But no matter what she claims, I never promised her marriage. Looking back, I regret not converting the NC into an FIR.

According to her FIR, you raped her in January 2017 and also filmed the act, which she claims was used by you for extortion and blackmail...
That’s a figment of her imagination. If somebody rapes you, then you don’t text him saying, ‘Hi Sweety!’ Also, you won’t ask for sex or plead with the ‘rapist’ to answer your calls. Rape is a heinous crime and you can’t make these charges in a frivolous manner. Tell her to give the date when the rape happened. How can someone not remember the date of an incident of that magnitude? She knows that if she errs with the date, her charges will fall flat.

While your phone and laptop were seized immediately, the cops took time to confiscate her phones...
I was extremely upset. The police just acted on her story. Thank God that the reality came out after she staged an attack on herself (the complainant had alleged that she was attacked by two unknown bikers in Lokhandwala, who wanted her to withdraw the case. However, during the investigation, the police found the complainant and her lawyer Ali Kaashif Khan’s involvement in the attack).

You were in judicial custody for almost a month. Have you emerged stronger from that experience?
I was put in a circular barrack on the first floor, occupied by 92 inmates. The gates of the barracks are kept open for a few hours in the morning, so that you can walk around and stretch in the passage. You are not allowed to step out of the barrack and can’t even see sunlight. I spent my time reading books and writing one, too. In fact, I am in the process of finishing a book on my experience inside the jail. I saw a lot of people, who don’t have any support, suffering in jail. I don’t want anyone implicated in a false case to languish in jail, just because they don’t have the resources to secure a bail. Now, my mission is to fight for these voiceless people. I want to ensure that no human being suffers like I did. The system and process need a lot of reformation and corrective measures, and I will fight for that. The experience could have made me bitter, but I am grateful that it has made me hopeful and gentler. The support that I received from people outside helped me pull through.

You have emerged as the poster boy of the #MenToo movement. There is a certain section of people who feel that this movement could hamper the #MeToo movement. What’s your response to that?
I have been an advocate of both. The #MenToo movement is about justice and equality. In fact, it complements #MeToo. Take my case, for example. The whole episode was most traumatic for my mother and sister. #MenToo is the need of the hour. A society thrives when everybody lives in peace and harmony. #MenToo stands for the fact that if you file a false case, you can get into trouble, because every person who gets away with levelling false charges will encourage others to follow suit. When it comes to the #MeToo movement, I will fight for it shoulder-to-shoulder, but don’t persecute an innocent man and put him behind bars, because the agenda then gets diluted. That’s the point we are making with this movement. If we are suddenly going to answer years of patriarchy by creating an imbalance in the equation between men and women, we are asking for trouble. It will create discord between men and women. How would I know that the next woman I meet can be trusted and how can I safeguard myself, will be the questions that will haunt every man. This movement isn’t just about men, but about gender equality. In any case, people who are severely affected are the women in the family. Our empathy is towards the pain and not the gender.

Are you apprehensive that these charges could damage your career and reputation? Also, what are your future plans?
These charges were more damaging to my mind than my career. As far as the latter is concerned, I am doing fine, because offers are already coming in. I want to take my time to evaluate every offer. Meanwhile, I will continue writing my book. Besides, #MenToo is a mission I am not giving up on. In fact, nothing will take a back seat, be it singing, acting, writing, producing or directing.