Jwala Gutta shares her 'me too' moment, alleges mental harassment, selection bias

New Delhi: As the #MeToo movement gains momentum in India, more and more women are coming up with incidents of sexual harassment that they have faced so far.

In the latest instance, Indian badminton player Jwala Gutta on Tuesday raked up past complaints of 'mental harassment' and selection biases. She said that what she went through also fell under the ambit of the ongoing Me Too campaign.

In a series of tweets, the former world championships bronze-medallist in women's doubles neither took any names nor mentioned any instances of sexual harassment, which form the core of the movement that has taken India by storm after major ramifications the world over.
 
Gutta, also a former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist, reiterated her allegations of being targetted in selection. 

"Maybe I should talk about the mental harassment I had to go through...#metoo," she said.

Maybe I should talk about the mental harassment I had to go through... #metoo

— Gutta Jwala (@Guttajwala) October 9, 2018

"Since 2006. Since this person became the chief ..Threw me out of national team inspite of me being a national champion. The latest was when I returned from RIO. I am out of national team again. One of the reasons I stopped playing!!," Gutta alleged.

Since 2006.since this person became the chief ..threw me out of national team inspite of me being a national champion.the latest was when I returned from https://t.co/Ag37TlXFd3 out of national team https://t.co/OVhyvFNAN9 of the reasons I stopped playing!! — Gutta Jwala (@Guttajwala) October 9, 2018

The Hyderabad-based player had a long-standing and much-publicised feud with chief national coach P Gopichand, during which she alleged that he concentrated solely on singles players while ignoring the ones in doubles.

She went on to claim that criticism of Gopichand resulted in her being sidelined from the national team and even the loss of doubles partners. 

She, however, did not take Gopichand's name in her tweets on Tuesday.

"Since 2006...Till 2016...Have been thrown out of the team again n again n again..Inspite of my performances...2009 I was back in the team when I was world no.9..," she said.

Gopichand, on his part, has refrained from reacting on her allegations in the past.

The #MeeToo movement first began in 2017 in Hollywood just a few days after The New York Times and The New Yorker published scores of stories about decades-long predation of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

This movement gained momentum in India after a number of women from different fields of work revealed their stories of harassment and leveled an allegation against many known personalities. It started with Tanushree Dutta accusing veteran actor Nana Patekar of harassment on the sets of a movie.

Bollywood actress Tanushree Dutta, on September 26, alleged that she was harassed by veteran actor Nana Patekar while shooting for a special dance number in a 2008 film.

The former beauty queen also accused dance choreographer Ganesh Acharya of teaming up against her. She alleged that she and her family were attacked by members of a political party after she refused to perform the intimate step.

(With inputs from agencies)