Mumbai: Auction house Sotheby India has sent its top India executive on a leave of absence after four sexual harassment allegations were levelled against him under the #MeToo movement.
Managing director Gaurav Bhatia has been accused of inappropriate touching and forcible kissing by the accusers of which two are men who worked with him. The allegations surfaced on the Instagram page Scene and Herd that has been posting #MeToo stories from the world of art.
One of the #MeToo survivor wrote in his account, "Working for him was extremely traumatic and triggering thereafter. I had to quit him a week later."
Meanwhile, a day before their first auction in the country, Sotheby's has released a statement saying, "Harassment of any type has no place at Sotheby's and we will thoroughly investigate these allegations with Gaurav's full cooperation."
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