Tanmay Bhatt, Gursimran Khamba to 'step Away' from AIB

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Oct 8 (ANI): Following strong criticism over allegations of sexual misconduct on some of its members, Mumbai-based popular comedy group, AIB on Monday stepped away from its co-founders Tanmay Bhatt and Gursimran Khamba.

The move comes after Tanmay was accused by several women of overlooking sexual misconduct complaints filed against ex-AIB member Utsav Chakraborty over social media last week.

AIB, in a statement, said, "We have been closely monitoring the sequence of events on social media around the allegations against AIB and also against our co-founder and CEO, Tanmay Bhat. We cannot overlook Tanmay's role, and in light of this, he will be stepping away from his association with AIB until further notice."

Khamba, meanwhile, is facing allegations of sexual harassment by an unknown woman, who claimed that he tried to "forcefully" kiss her in 2015 on two occasions.

"However, as an organization, we believe it would be prudent to place Gursimran Khamba on a temporary leave of absence until we have more clarity," the AIB team further said.

The group also noted that owing to these situations, AIB has decided to undergo a restructuring in order to ensure a balanced work environment.

"We understand that disconcert of any kind adversely affects the work culture and creates an unsafe space for our employees. Nobody should have to work in an environment such as that, and we hope to enable measures to establish our commitment to creating a gender-sensitive workspace," the statement concluded.

This comes at a time when several Bollywood celebrities including Nana Patekar and Vikas Bahl have embroiled into a controversy over sexual harassment allegations levelled by Tanushree Dutta and Kangana Ranaut respectively. (ANI)

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