Singer Shweta Pandit has accused singer Anu Malik of sexually harassing her when she was only 15. Shweta called him a ‘pedophile’ and ‘sexual predator’. Malik has denied the allegations.
Shweta on Wednesday took to twitter to narrate her ordeal. She joined the list of women who have narrated their #MeToo stories and named and shamed their harassers.
“I got a call from Anu Malik’s then manager (Mustafa) to come to #empirestudio in Andheri sometime in mid 2001. I was thrilled like any singer would be. I used to admire his music and practice his songs for hours and look upto him back then! He was recording a group song with Sunidhi and Shaan for the film Awara Pagal Deewana when my mother and I walked in the monitor room. He told me to wait in the small cabin inside where singers sang at Empire studio. It was just him and me there”, Shweta wrote in her post.
“He asked me to sing something without any music as he wanted to hear my voice. I remember I sang the title song of Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega as a voice test for this man. I sang so well he said ‘I will give you this song with Sunidhi and Shaan but first give me a kiss now.’. He then smiled what I would recall the most evil grin I have seen. I went numb and pale in the face”, Shweta wrote while narrating her #MeToo story.
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 Fucci (@ShwetaPandit7) October 17, 2018
She said she was only 15 years old then and still in school. “Can anyone even imagine what it felt that moment? It felt like someone had just stabbed me in my stomach. I referred to this man as ‘Anu Uncle’…”, she said.
A day after Shweta levelled serious allegations against Malik, his lawyer gave a statement to news agency IANS.
“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,” Malik’s lawyer Zulfiquar Memon told IANS.
By EP Web Desk
(With Inputs From IANS)
