Sona Mohapatra criticises journalist for giving platform to ‘known serial sexual harasser and molester’ Anu Malik

Singer Sona Mohapatara, on Sunday, criticised a journalist and a news organisation for giving platform to music composer Anu Malik, whom she referred to as a ‘known serial sexual harasser, molester and of course plagiarism ka monarch (king of plagiarism)’. Sona had alleged in the past that Anu had sexually harrassed her during her early days in the music industry. The singer sought a reply from the journalist for for chosing to interview Anu despite the allegations against him. Also read: Anu Malik referred to me as ‘maal’, alleges singer Sona Mohapatra

On Sunday, Sona quote tweeted a tweet from journalist Rohan Dua of The New Indian, where he had shared a video of his interview with Anu Malik on the composer’s ‘Krishna bhakti’ and his career. Sona wrote in her tweet addressed to Rohan, “Just cus (because) he be proclaiming ‘Krishna’ bhakti (devotion) doesn’t wash away his sins. Also, giving a platform to a known serial sexual harasser, molester and of course plagiarism ka monarch makes you, what? Clickbait.” She added a crown emoji, a hashtag of Anu’s name and tagged India Me Too in her tweet as well.

It was in 2018 during the Indian Me Too movement that Sona had accused Anu of sexual harassment. In an interview to Hindustan Times, the singer had said, “The first time I met Anu Malik was in October 2006 for the rehearsals of MTV Lycra Style Awards. He invited both Ram (Sampath, her husband) and me for lunch at the ITC Grand Maratha, since he had worked with Ram as a youngster. (Anu Malik) didn’t know we were married and the moment I went to the rest room, he made a lewd comment — ‘kya maal hai Sampath’.”

The singer added that the composer would then call her at odd hourss, often at night and talk about strange things, following which she stopped taking his calls. Anu was accused of sexual harassment by singers Shweta Pandit and Neha Bhasin as well in the same year.

Following the allegations, he stepped down as the judge of the reality show Indian Idol in 2019. In a statement released on Twitter, the composer had said at the time, “It has been over a year that I have been accused of something that I haven’t done. I have been silent all this while as I was waiting for the truth to surface on its own. But I realise that my silence on the matter has been misconstrued as my weakness…Being a father of two daughters, I can’t even imagine committing the acts that I am accused of, let alone do it.” He returned to the show two years later.