TV Channel Asks Anu Malik To Quit Jury After Misconduct Allegations

The MeToo list of sexual harassment accused is getting bigger every day. The latest to come under the radar is singer and composer Anu Malik who has been accused of sexual harassment by singer Sona Mohapatra. After Mohapatra, singer Shweta Pandit and two more women have revealed their harrowing accounts of sexual misconduct by Malik.

Following these allegations, the TV channel airing Indian Idol 10 has asked Malik to step down from the show's jury team.

Mohapatra revealed that Malik called her ‘maal’ and used to call her at odd hours after which she broke ties with him. Mohapatra’s social media post attracted many trolls who called her out for considering the word ‘maal’ as sexual harassment. But Mohapatra responded to them saying, “That so many people trolled me for my Anu Malik #TimesUp⁠ ⁠ story scoffing because they think calling me ‘Maal’ or calling up at odd hours doesn’t constitute as sexual harassment. Please note, you DONT KNOW SHIT. Predators do much worse when they get a chance because of people like you & more importantly you are no one to decide,” in another Facebook post.

ALSO READ: #MeToo India Movement: How POSH Supports The Survivors

Her revelations also encouraged Pandit to recount her incident with Anu Malik wherein she was a 15-year-old in 2001. She said that Malik knew her family very well. She recounted about the time she had gone to meet him with her mother in his studio for some professional work. He asked her to sing a song which she did. After that, he said “now give me a kiss”. Pandit said that she felt like someone had stabbed her in the stomach.

Had to go back to my worst memory as a teenage girl today to write this and speak up - its now or never. This is my #MeToo and have to warn young girls about #AnuMalik & let you know your #TimesUp @IndiaMeToo
Thank you @sonamohapatra for speaking up about him & supporting this pic.twitter.com/e261pGQyEq

— Shweta Pandit (@ShwetaPandit7) October 17, 2018

Former producer of Indian Idol, Danica D’souza also corroborated the claims of Mohapatra and Pandit when she said that two more women have told her of similar cases of sexual harassment by Malik when she worked at Freemantle Media during Indian Idol 5.

D’souza, who now lives in New York, told Mid Day, “This incident occurred in Kolkata. One of our colleagues from the production crew was travelling with a cameraman and Malik in a car to get sound bites. When she returned, she looked traumatised and told us of the unfortunate incident. She said once they had wrapped up their work, Malik touched her thigh in the car, and felt her up. She was startled. The cameraman who was sitting in the front seat wasn't aware of what was going on behind him."

She added that Malik’s behaviour around women was different from how he behaved with men. He would casually put his hand around women, or pull them towards him.

However, Malik has categorically denied all the allegations put against him by Mohapatra. For now, sources close to channel told the media that Malik will not shoot for the show anymore.

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