Actor Alok Nath on Monday filed a civil defamation suit against writer, director and producer Vinta Nanda for accusing him of rape and sought a written apology. The actor has also sought compensation of Re 1, ANI reported.

Earlier on Monday, Nath’s lawyer Ashok Saraogi said the actor has responded to the notice served by the Cine and TV Artistes Association and refuted the allegations of rape and sexual harassment against him, ANI reported.

Nanda has alleged that Nath raped her in her home nearly two decades ago after he was sacked from 1990s’ popular television show Tara for misbehaving with its lead actress. Two days after Nanda spoke out, actor Sandhya Mridul also claimed Nath had sexually harassed her years ago. In another Facebook post, actor Deepika Amin claimed that Nath harassed her during the shooting of a telefilm several years ago.

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Nanda’s lawyer Dhruti M Kapadia said that they would deal with the “so-called defamation proceedings”, Republic World reported. “My client will not be intimidated by threats and defamation suits which are primarily meant to delay and distract from the gravity of the allegations,” Kapadia had said earlier.

On October 12, Nath filed a criminal complaint against Nanda at the Amboli police station, Saraogi said. The complaint was registered because Nanda, without any justified reason, tried to “defame the reputation of the family, and especially that of Nath as well as his wife”, said the lawyer. “Hence, necessary action should be taken against her [Nanda],” he added.

Since October 5, several women have levelled allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against various journalists, media professionals and writers. Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar is one of the prominent names accused of sexual harassment. On Monday, Akbar filed a defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani.