Now co-founder of leftist website ‘The Wire’ accused of sexual harassment, denies allegations

Sidharth Bhatia @bombaywallah, middle, circled

Last week, in what is widely called as India’s #MeToo movement, many people came forward to share their stories of sexual harassment, especially by people in power. Soon enough the movement snowballed and the who’s who of the film and media industry were named. The latest name to come out today has been Sidharth Bhatia, co-founder and founding editor of the leftist propaganda website ‘The Wire‘.

Bhatia has been named by at least two different women, in two separate incidents and accused of having used his position of power of sexually exploiting women.

https://twitter.com/domeofthedevil/status/1048854890217259008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/right2livelife/status/1048857871406886912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
One woman has accused Bhatia of ‘propositioning young interns in DNA (where Bhatia was previously associated with) offering tips on writing’. The second Twitter user has accused Bhatia of licking his ‘lower lip seeing bra straps of young women’ in office.

In the tweets, the women have even asked another journalist, Ranjona Banerjee, who was Bhatia’s deputy when in DNA, to speak up, implying Banerjee knew.

https://twitter.com/right2livelife/status/1048858595960315904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
One of the woman even alleged that Siddharth Bhatia had ‘liked’ the tweet accusing him of sexual harassment. However, it seems like he had later ‘unliked’. If the woman’s assertions are true, it would mean that Bhatia was online and is now aware of the allegations being made against him.

https://twitter.com/domeofthedevil/status/1048906693843636224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Meanwhile, many Twitter users have accused Twitter of ‘shadow banning’ Twitter users like Sheena who are naming and shaming the alleged sexual predators for outing the names.

https://twitter.com/pokershash/status/1048951618081681408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Bhatia, while still active on Twitter (his last tweet at the time of this report is at 8:25 pm, while the above tweets accusing him are before 2:30 pm today), hasn’t either confirmed or denied the accusations on him. Neither has The Wire issued any statement. We will update the article if and when such a statement is issued.

Update: At 10:17 AM on 8th October 2018, Siddharth Bhatia, the co-founder and founding editor of The Wire responded to the allegations levelled against him. He has categorically denied the allegations and even knowing the women in question who levelled these allegations.

https://twitter.com/bombaywallah/status/1049166792487313408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia