Anu Malik, who appeared as a judge on the tenth season of the talent-based reality show Indian Idol, has stepped down from the responsibility after being accused of sexual harassment by singers Sona Mohapatra and Shweta Pandit in the wake of the #MeToo movement in India. In a statement issued by the musician, Malik said that he has informed the channel about taking a “break” from Indian Idol as he isn’t being able to concentrate on the show at the moment, reports a leading website.

“I have issued a statement to the channel ‘I, Anu Malik, have decided to take a break from Indian Idol as I am currently unable to focus on my work on the show.’ The channel has been kind to agree for the same,” Malik said in a statement, as reported by the website.

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[caption id="attachment_152046" align="aligncenter" width="647"] File photo of Anu Malik.[/caption]

In the meantime, Sony TV – the channel on which Indian Idol 10 is telecast, issued an official statement, confirming Malik’s disassociation from the reality show.

“Anu Mallik 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,” the spokesperson of Sony TV said in the statement.

Last week, Shweta claimed that Malik had told her that he would give her a song with Sunidhi Chauhan and Shaan if “she gave him a kiss”. “He then smiled, what I would recall the most evil grin I’ve seen,” Shweta said of the incident when she was 15. Apart from Shweta and Sona, two other women also accused Malik of sexually harassing them.

[caption id="attachment_153418" align="aligncenter" width="958"] Shweta Pandit[/caption]

Malik, however, has denied the allegations made by Shweta, his lawyer Zulfiquar Memon told a news agency on his behalf.

“The allegations made against my client are emphatically denied as completely false and baseless. My client respects the #MeToo movement but to use this movement to start a character assassination mission is obnoxious,” Zulfiquar Memon told the agency.