Feel so let down: Sona Mohapatra censures Sonu Nigam for defending Anu Malik on #MeToo

By Bollywood Reporter

on December 19, 2018

Singer Sona Mohapatra has censured Sonu Nigam after he defended musician Anu Malik while speaking at a summit earlier this week. In October, Malik embroiled himself in a controversy with several women accusing him of sexual harassment. Sona, meanwhile, expressed dissent on Twitter as she said that she felt “let down hearing” Sonu “talk like this & choose the dark side to side up with”.

Malik has been accused of sexual harassment by singer Shweta Pandit and Sona as well, and two other women in the wake of the #MeToo movement in India.

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

Read Sona’s tweet:

https://twitter.com/sonamohapatra/status/1075301509116633089

While addressing the audience at the Agenda Aaj Tak 2018 summit, Sonu refused to believe the stories of those who levelled sexual harassment allegations against Malik and said that “concrete proof” must be “provided”. After allegations against Malik surfaced, he dropped out of the tenth season of the talent-based reality show Indian Idol, on which he appeared as a judge.

[caption id="attachment_184437" align="aligncenter" width="647"] File photo of Sonu Nigam.[/caption]

"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?” Sonu said at the summit.

"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? 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," Sonu added.

Sonu Nigam is an accomplished singer and is best known for songs such as Deewana Dil (Pardes) and Kal Ho Naa Ho.