More than fear of false accusation, it has made me reflect on my behavior from my past. I spent a few years with the Vishakha Committee at my previous workplace and even that did not make me think as much about my own behavior.
With some of the sort of complaints that have come up, I cannot but think of at least 2 instances when I might have walked a tight line.
6 months into my first job, I had gone for the birthday party of a colleague with whom I shared my office room. I had just come back from a long field trip and drank a lot of rum and blacked out during the party. I woke up next morning on her bed with a makeshift partition of pillows, cushions, and a bag and this colleague sleeping on the other side of the bed. Apparently, I sang and danced to a lot of Malayalam songs and then suddenly crashed on her bed. I freaked out in the morning and she and other colleagues ribbed me a lot about the whole thing later. But now I wonder how unwelcome it must have been for the colleague to have a guy on the same bed. And reading some of the twitter posts, I wonder if I also ended up acting weird which she didn't make an issue out of and I have no memory of. I would think that it is unlikely that I did anything given my own issues with physical intimacy. But I don't know a word of Malayalam and because of arthritis, I haven't really danced since high school. So it appears a lot of my behavior was out of character that night. Then you begin to wonder was there anything else.
Much later, there was also this party after we completed our masters program and I remember having a chat with this Turkish research scholar about her interest in Bollywood songs and use of Persian and Arabic words in Urdu and Hindi. I did drink a lot and remember having a huge struggle opening the lock to my apartment. It seems she and another classmate were able to somehow put me to bed. Next morning, I logged into my mail account to see I had sent her some 3 mails between 3 &4 am sending her YouTube links to classic Hindi songs. Emails I had no memory of sending. That time, I saw this as an act of stupidity and apologized immediately. But now looking at the some of the complaints that have come up, I do wonder if I crossed a line and walked into creep territory.
Fortunately, I have cut down on drinking after few health issues and have never blacked out or got sloshed after that. Compared to the horrific accounts revealed by now, these may seem trivial. But if any complaint arises out of those two nights when I blacked out, I will have to accept whatever accusation that comes my way for I have no memory whatsoever.