#MeToo: Shweta Pandit says she feels let down by her male counterparts

The #MeToo movement is going from strength to strength and now musician Anu Malik is feeling the heat. Singer Shweta Pandit recently made accusations against the veteran composer for sexually harassing her when she was just 15-year-old and how that episode left her vulnerable and shook her. Shweta has also called for Anu Malik’s ouster from ‘Indian Idol 10’ (where he is a judge) for his actions and after her confession, quite a few women have come out and have levelled similar allegations against Anu Malik.

As per the report published in the DNA, Shweta was quoted saying as, “I don’t know what internal discussions have taken place among the channel officials. But even if people working with him take a stand, it will make a lot of difference”. Sona Mohapatra called out the other judges of Indian Idol (Vishal Dadlani and Neha Kakkar) to stop engaging with Anu Malik.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo4Q1gyAJSy/?taken-by=shwetapandit7

“There are so many more girls out there, who probably don’t have the courage to speak up, but I hope they do someday. There are five women, who have accused him, so it can’t be baseless. It’s not just me screaming from the rooftops. His fellow judges should step down because it will send out a strong message. If someone like me, who comes from a gharana of music, is treated this way, one can imagine what must be happening to newer singers, “ said the singer when people raised doubts against her allegations.

Shweta feels that this also brings out the underlying hypocrisy that exists within the music industry. “Surprisingly, people from the film industry have reached out to me, but no man from the music industry stood up for me,” she says.

There have been accusations made against Kailash Kher, Abhijeet Bhattacharya and other prominent people from the music industry with respect to sexual harassment at the workplace and over the past few weeks, many incidents of this nature have come into light.When asked about if she is going to file a complaint against Anu Malik, Shweta said that once she comes back to the country(she is currently in Italy) she will decide her further course of action.

Earlier today, Sony Entertainment Television issued a statement confirming Anu Malik’s ouster from Indian Idol. Their statement read, “Anu Malik is no longer a part of the Indian Idol jury panel. The show will continue its planned schedule and we will invite some of the biggest names in Indian music as guests to join Vishal and Neha to judge the extraordinary talent of Indian Idol season 10.”

Also Read: Danica D’Souza on Anu Malik: Higher-ups in the Indian Idol ignored complaint against him

Dhaval Mehta

I am crazy and obsessed with politics, sports and entertainment. A journalist, who is not afraid to give his opinion and believes in calling spade a spade. I like to think on my feet and come up with original, fresh and out of the box ideas.
Email: editor@bollywoodbubble.com Phone: +91 8355910465