'I am being cornered and suffocated': Anu Malik breaks silence on #MeToo allegations

After almost a year of pan-dead silence, singer and music composer Anu Malik has opened up about the #MeToo allegations levelled against him. Anu Malik has called the allegations "false" and "unverified", and has also hinted that he may have to take the legal route if it further tarnishes his image.

Sexual harassment charges were levelled against the Indian Idol judge by singers Sona Mohapatra, Neha Bhasin and Shweta Pandit last year, after which, the show had dropped Malik for a brief period.

Open statement

Malik has said in an open letter:

"It has been over a year that I have been accused of something that I haven't done. I have been silent all this while as I was waiting for the truth to surface on its own. But I realise that my silence on the matter has been misconstrued as my weakness.

Ever since the false and unverified allegations were levelled against me, it has not only ruined my reputation but affected me and my family's mental health, left us traumatized and tarnished my career. I feel helpless like I am being cornered and suffocated

It's disgraceful that at this age, at this stage in my life I have to watch the most slanderous words and horrifying incidents being associated with my name.

Why wasn't this spoken about before? Why do these allegations resurface only when I am back on television, which is currently my only source of livelihood?

Being a father of two daughters, I can't imagine committing the acts that I am accused of, let alone do it. Fighting a battle on social media is an endless process, at the end of which nobody wins. If this keeps on continuing. I will have no option but to knock on the doors of the courts to safeguard myself.

I would like to thank my well-wishers who have been with me and my family through this dark phase. I don't know how much more slander and dirt my family and I can take."

Other allegations

While Sona Mohapatra claimed that Anu Malik used to make her uncomfortable and even called her 'maal' several times in front of her husband, Neha Bhasin said that Anu Malik behaved like an "ugly pervert" when she had gone to give him a CD of her song at a young age. Shweta Pandit had alleged that Anu Malik had wanted to get a kiss from her in exchange for a song when she was just 15 years old.