Earlier many female singers including Sona Mohapatra and Shweta Pandit accused Anu Malik of sexual harassment. The singers also revealed their horrific experiences on social media, and following the allegations Malik faced the consequences. He had to step down from the judging panel of the 10th season of Indian Idol, the famous reality singing show.
Anu in his defence said that all the allegations against him are false. Malik’s lawyer also issued a statement that the allegations of Shweta Pandit are baseless. Recently, fellow singer and Anu Malik’s long-time friend Sonu Nigam backed the composer by saying, “I haven’t had enough opportunity to speak on this subject. I myself am a witness to how power is misused. I said #MeToo ten years ago when a journalist kept harassing me. He had told a director that if he worked with me, he would kill himself.”
Sonu further claimed that the sexual harassment allegations are baseless. He said, “If you say, ‘Anu Malik met me this morning’, that’s fine. You accused him without any proof; let’s accept that too. Had he [Anu Malik] wanted to say anything, he could have said a lot. But he did not. If I say that you misbehaved with me, you will ask me for proof. But there’s no proof, right? Despite that, people are respecting the accusers, who are tarnishing Anu Malik’s name. But how can you ban him? How can you snatch his bread and butter? How can you torture his family?”
“Who has given us the right to be the judiciary of someone else’s life? Or you provide concrete proof. I have two sisters. I stand for them. But that does not mean that you put a stop to someone’s work. How can that happen?” asked Sonu. “The torture, harassment, can happen anywhere. It happens in the corporate world too. You have accused him, you have shamed him, now don’t punish his family. Get proof first,” the singer added.
In the event which was organized by a media group, Sonu said that people should not punish the family of the person who does wrong deeds. Sonu Nigam and Anu Malik have collaborated in many songs and were also on Indian Idol’s judging panel together.
