Singer Raghu Dixit accused of sexual harassment, he apologises

The Me Too India continues to gather steam with new names emerging day-by-day. Drawing from the movement against sexual harassment that struck Hollywood last year, this path-breaking campaign was indeed much needed.

From veteran actors like Alok Nath and Nana Patekar, A-list comedians of All India Bakchod (AIB) to the  Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar, several have been accused of sexual harassment.

Singer Raghu Dixit, who is the latest to be accused of misconduct in the #MeToo movement, said Wednesday that the account of the person levelling allegations against him was mostly accurate but he is not a predator.

The singer said he "completely misread" the situation and had immediately apologised to the person concerned and will do so again in private.

Dixit, the frontman for the Raghu Dixit Project, a multilingual folk music band, was accused of sexual harassment by an anonymous woman, whose account was shared by a fellow singer, Chinmayi Sripaada on Twitter.

On Tuesday, Indian playback singer Chinmayi Sripaada accused Tamil poet and lyricist Vairamuthu of sexual harassment. Recalling an incident that allegedly took place years ago in Switzerland, where an organiser attempted to blackmail Chinmayi into going to Vairamuthu’s room by claiming that if she did not, her career would be jeopardized.

In a series of tweets, the playback singer reiterated the entire incident following which, in an exclusive interview with Republic TV, she said, “4-5 years ago, when I was performing in Switzerland, I was asked to go to Vairamuthu's room. My mother and I put our foot down and they refused to even send us back to India after that. We threatened to go to the embassy if we have to and another time I was blackmailed for saying I won't sing for him”.

Vairamuthi went onto deny these allegations, following which Chinmayi called him a 'LIAR'. 

READ | Me Too India: Tamil Lyricist Vairamuthu Denies Chinmayi Sripaada's Allegations Of Sexual Harassment; She Calls Him A ‘LIAR’