Businessman Varun Patra admits recording sexual encounter with woman due to ‘fear’ over #MeToo movement

An Indian businessman has admitted to making a secret audio recording of a sexual encounter he had with a woman, because he was afraid of the #MeToo movement and being charged with sexual misconduct.

Varun Patra, co-founder of youth media company Homegrown, has been accused of sexual harassment by a woman he met in November 2018.

The woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous, gave her account of the series of events through a Facebook post shared by artist Priyanka Paul.

In the open letter, she explained how she met Mr Patra for dinner before going back to her home and having sex.

She also alleged that he performed an sex act on her without consent - a claim he has strenuously denied.

Afterwards she said she noticed him stopping an audio recording on his phone.

Challenged on the matter, she said he confessed making a recording of their encounter, without her knowledge. She added that he admitted to also recording sexual encounters with other women in the past.

“In that moment, my body was hollow, I was numb,” she wrote. “I couldn’t process what happened, but I knew this creep needed to go.”

After Mr Patra had left her home, the woman called a friend who came round to her home straight away.

Once she had explained the situation to her friend, she was told the incident had been “sexual misconduct at best, sexual assault at worst”.

Alongside her open letter, the woman shared screenshots from a Whatsapp conversation which she claimed was between her and Mr Patra.

He appears to admit that he started recording sex with women “since this MeToo thing”.

She then makes the point that his Homegrown company celebrates “sex positivity and feminism” and Mr Patra has a reputation as a “progressive feminist”.

It is unclear whether she has contacted the police about the incident.

In a statement to Rolling Stone India, Mr Patra said: "At no point did we engage in sexual activity without protection and without consent”.

But he admitted to recording their encounter.

“I put my phone on audio recording and here, I want to be clear that I completely understand that this is not ok,” he said. “It came from a place of fear and uncertainty of how to navigate sex with somebody who I had not known for very long in the atmosphere of MeToo which I had already been introspecting on a lot.

“I was extremely anxious and fearful that any sexual activity, irrespective of consent, could be used against me.”

The official Twitter account for the #MeToo movement in India has commented on the situation, tweeting: “So worried about a hypothetical violation, that he commits a real one in recording a sex without partner’s consent. Unbelievable.”

The British Council in India, who recently announced a partnership with Patra’s company Homegrown, has also stated it’s investigating the allegations.

Homegrown is yet to release a statement regarding the accusations.