Singer Sona Mohapatra has been a strong crusader of the MeToo movement, taking on big names like music composer Anu Malik. In a new Facebook post, Mohapatra slammed Sony TV and the team of music reality show Indian Idol for using ''the theme of sexual harassment for promotion and commercial gain''.
She said that roping in Anu Malik as judge for another season, despite him being accused of sexual harassment, was a devious choice. “They wanted to ride on his infamy for publicity, eyeballs and attention,” she wrote. She also highlighted a recent incident where one of the contestants forcibly kissed judge and singer Neha Kakkar, and the clip of the incident going viral.
In October last year, Singer Shweta Pandit had accused Anu Malik of harassment when she was a minor. In a lengthy post on Twitter, the singer accused Malik of being a "pedophile and sexual predator", saying he misbehaved with her when she was a greenhorn in the Hindi music industry.
Though he was briefly dropped from the singing reality show, he was brought back this September. When he was reinstated, Mohapatra penned an open letter, in which she recounted several allegations of harassment against Malik. She also lambasted musicians Sonu Nigam, Vishal Dadlani and Neha Kakkar for supporting him.
Eventually, Malik quit the show last week.
