India's MeToo: Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu accused of sexual misconduct

The anonymous allegations against Vairamuthu have been made in light of several women coming forward to name alleged perpetrators in powerful positions.

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Months after US-based attorney Raya Sarkar released a crowdsourced list of alleged sexual harassers in Indian academia, several women have come forward in recent days with stories of sexual harassment, misconduct and inappropriate behaviour with male coworkers and peers.

The latest name to surface in the list is that of Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu.

In an anonymous message to journalist Sandhya Menon, a screenshot of which she has shared on her Twitter page, a woman has accused the lyricist of sexual harassment at the workplace.

On lyricist Vairamuthu pic.twitter.com/c6DwYWOO6C — Sandhya Menon (@TheRestlessQuil) October 8, 2018

The woman alleges that the incident took place when she, as an 18-year-old, was working with Vairamuthu on a project.

She wrote, “In the pretext of explaining lyrics, he came to me, hugged me and kissed me. I did not know what to do. I said OK sir, thank you and ran from his house.”

The incident is alleged to have taken place at the lyricist's house cum office in Chennai's Kodambakkam.

The woman goes on to say that she ensured that she was always in a group while encountering him, following the incident.

The woman has claimed that Vairamuthu is being protected because of his "political connections, which he uses to often silence victims."

Singer Chinmayi retweeted Sandhya's tweet and added, "The industry knows; the men know. #TimesUp The time is bloody up."

The industry knows; the men know. #TimesUp

The time is bloody up. https://t.co/UuZpaNQBhm October 8, 2018

Vairamuthu has been in a controversy recently where he was accused of defaming a Hindu goddess in an article he wrote in a Tamil daily.

Women from across the media industry have come forward in recent days to name alleged perpetrators of sexual misconduct. From Utsav, a comedian associated with the All India Bakchod to the Times of India’s Hyderabad Resident Editor KR Sreenivas, many have been called out on social media.

As seen in several instances of the #MeToo movement, once an allegation surfaced against an individual, many other testimonies of similar behaviour about the person began to emerge.