Bengaluru: Ere Gowda, who shot to fame as the screenwriter of Kannada film Thithi that was acclaimed internationally, has been alleged of sexually harassing a woman, who worked in his directorial short film Balekempa.

A girl with the account of Ekta M has posted the details of her friend being harassed by Kannada film screenwriter and director Ere Gowda.

Following the #MeToo allegation, currently, the Dharmashala International Film Festival (DIFF) that was supposed to screen Gowda's Balekempa, short movie, has cancelled the show on Tuesday.

Ere Gowda's Balekempa film, which the girl worked on, has won many accolades including nomination for the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Achievement in Cinematography, screened at Mumbai Film Festival and has also been selected for Minsk International Film Festival Listapad to be held from November 2 to 10.

But, here is what the girl allegedly had to face while working on the sets of Balekempa.

The girl is said to be an aspiring screenwriter. As Ere Gowda's screenwriting in Thithi was much appreciated, after completion of course, she decided to come to Bengaluru and learn from him. A meeting was arranged between them at Sankey Tank, Bengaluru. The talks began and then...

"On a certain occasion, Ere expressed that he felt sexually attracted to me. I came up with a few excuses and went back home. I wasn’t sure if I should continue meeting him. Then I talked with a few friends. I talked to myself. I thought that maybe I shouldn’t run away just because someone is attracted to me. I decided to talk this out with him. We met. I told him clearly that I am looking for a mentor. I am looking for somebody to learn from. I am not interested in any romantic ventures in my life at the moment. He seemed to get me perfectly well," the letter stated.

 

On another occasion, after Ere Gowda asked her to help him out with an application for a TED Talk, he asked her to come to a friend's house, where he specified that he was living with his girlfriend. By then, she had started trusting him. But that occasion proved that it was a mistake. At the friend's house, there was no girlfriend and Ere went out to play tennis with a friend. As she decided to take rest...

"Ere came back and lay down beside me. He came near me and tried to kiss. I told him that I am not interested and pushed him away. That was the start of it. He would put his hand on my chest. I would push it away. The hand would come back. When I look back now, I know that if I had texted my friend and asked him to come, he would have come. But at that moment, I was petrified. Ere was tall and much stronger than me. I did not want to piss him off for I knew that I wouldn’t be able to fight him. My body had gone into survival mode. I knew that I just want to get through this one night. And so it went on. He would try to remove my bra. I would try to push him off. He kept coming back. I told him that I am on my periods. He asked me if I am lying. I told him that I could show my blood-wet pad if he is interested. I don’t know how I managed to close my eyes and sleep off. When I opened my eyes, he was still there, staring at me. He said that it is not possible for him to sleep. He asked if he could masturbate in front of me. I just lay there. He jerked off in front of me. Then he went to the toilet to clean up. Some part of me was relieved. I thought that it is over. But he came back, pushed me down on the bed, got on my back and masturbated on me. By then, I was dead inside. Not a word or cry came out..." the post read.

Thus, the girl avoided any contact with Ere Gowda, even stopped receiving his calls. But this was not the end...

"Ere started contacting me feverishly. I thought that if I don’t pick his calls for a few days, he would get the message. But then he tried to contact my family. That was it. I picked up his call. He started apologising profusely. He asked me if I was coming with him to Goa. I told him that I wanted nothing to do with him and warned him to never contact my family or me. He kept apologising. In my head, this did not make sense. This guy was getting a film out from one of the best production houses in our country. And I am a nobody. I told him that if he is worried that I will talk about this incident, then he needn’t sweat. His tone changed completely. He told me that nobody would believe me even if I spoke out. I understood that I had hit a nerve. I cut the call and blocked him everywhere," she stated.

Read the complete Facebook post here: