Bengaluru: The #MeToo wave has caught another prominent figure, singer Raghu Dixit, after a Twitter user, shared her colleague’s experience with him.
On Tuesday, October 9, singer Chinmayi Sripaada, shared a snapshot of a co-singer’s experience with Raghu. Elaborating on her experience, the woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that Raghu pulled her closer and asked her to kiss him, while he was signing her cheque and added that he attempted to carry her near the door which sent her crying. Calling him a “creep”, she said that he was obnoxious and claimed that she knew that many girls have had worse experiences with him.
After the woman’s experience was posted on Twitter, Raghu, on Wednesday, issued an apology to the woman who accused him of sexual harassment. In his lengthy statement, Raghu admitted to the incident saying, “I know who the person in question is and I have apologized to her in the past and apart from this public apology, will do so again privately. The incident did happen but not entirely like it was described. It was completely silly misjudgement on my part. I gave a person a hug and that led me to try to kiss her before she stopped me and left from the studio.”
The statement further reads, “We had just finished recording what I thought was a beautiful song with this person after which we were talking and the discussion veered towards my personal life. My wife and I were in a bad place in our relationship and I definitely sought comfort. This person was incredibly sweet and sympathetic to what I said and I completely misread the situation.”
While Chinmayi shared another singer’s experience with Raghu, he has denied being a sexual predator. Apologising to his accuser and his estranged wife, Raghu said in his statement, “I apologise to my estranged wife. She is indeed an awesome person and beautiful from heart. I also apologise to my fans and everyone who likes me and my music. The #MeToo movement is important and has my complete support. I will cooperate with any legal or committee investigation into the matter and I will still ask you all, even though I am the subject of this particular statement, to continue to believe the survivors. That is the need of the hour. We must empower women and learn from all that is going on and from our own missteps and mistakes.”
Seeing that Chinmayi’s tweets have attracted many trolls, Raghu requested them to stop harassing her saying, “Chinmayi is a good person and is doing the right thing in standing up for others.”
