Sona Mohapatra, Sonu Nigam

Singer Sonu Nigam’s support for music director Anu Malik over allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him has not gone down well with singer Sona Mohapatra. Sona, among other women, had accused Malik of sexual misconduct when the #MeToo movement gathered momentum in India a couple of weeks ago.

Lashing out at Sonu, she wrote on Twitter, “So much sympathy for a millionaire losing work? So much empathy for his privileged family being ‘tortured’?How about the scores of girls & women he tortured?Multiple testimonies not proof enough?”

So much sympathy for a millionaire losing work? So much empathy for his privileged family being ‘tortured’?How about the scores of girls & women he tortured?Multiple testimonies not proof enough?

“Sonu Nigam backs Anu Malik on #MeToo: Where is the proof?” https://t.co/xGajdQQfT8 — SONA (@sonamohapatra) December 19, 2018

“1)Not 1 but possibly 100+ women & MEN can attest to Anu Malik’s deplorable abusive behaviour. 2)I guess Mr. Sonu Nigam expects all these women/underage girls to - a)strap recording devices b)carry spy cams,other proof gathering devices cus they have much to benefit defaming him?” she wrote in another tweet.

1)Not 1 but possibly women & MEN can attest to Anu Malik’s deplorable abusive behaviour.

2)I guess Mr. Sonu Nigam expects all these women/underage girls to - a)strap recording devices b)carry spy cams,other proof gathering devices cus they have much to benefit defaming him? https://t.co/2udQ71S70a — SONA (@sonamohapatra) December 19, 2018

During India’s #MeToo movement, names of several Bollywood celebrities cropped up. Among the high-profile men, who were accused of sexual harassment, was also Malik. At least four women had claimed to have faced sexual harassment at the hands of the music director.

At the recently-held Agenda Aaj Tak 2018, Sonu said that the accusers of Malik were being respected without proof and that it was not the other way round.

“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 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?” the singer said defending Malik.