The Me Too campaign was started over a year ago, with many people coming out as victims of sexual harassment and assault. It was promoted as a movement to support the victims. Lately, there have been many developments in this regard and many people have called out to their alleged sexual offenders and taken to their social media pages to share their incidents.
Popular singer and dubbing artiste Chinmayi has been helping many women in bringing out their experiences with harassment in various fields. Her Twitter handle is currently flooded with tweets that are accusations against several people.
She, along with another singer who wished to remain anonymous had tweeted against music director Raghu Dixit, saying he had harassed them, and also spoke ill about his own wife in front of them.
Responding to these allegations, Raghu Dixit admitted to the crime and apologised to the victims. He posted a statement on Twitter, which read:
"Firstly, this is no defence. I am acutely aware of the allegations that have been made against me and I would like to put forth my side of the story and apologise.
For everyone that is attacking Chinmayee Sripaada, please stop it. Chinmayi is a good person and is doing the right thing in standing up for others. She had also been extremely nice to me when I interacted with her in the past, I remember she had also attended my concert in Hyderabad and even invited me to her home for lunch.
I remember the incident that Chinmayee's post refers to. I know who the person in question is and I have apologised 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. She then texted me and told me she did not like my behavior and I apologized profusely for what I did.
It was not an ad-hoc recording, it was a scratch for a movie and her voice was one of the options I was presenting to the director of the movie. 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.
But I've to disagree with the following points that Chinmayee's post mentioned.
Am I a predator? Definitely not.
Did I lure this singer or any other with a chance to sing for my movie? Not at all. This singer had already finished singing the song.
Did I speak ill of my wife? No. But I did vent out that we were in a bad place.
I have not been the best husband to my wife and as much as we tried to make our marriage work, we were not able to. I have separated from her for the past 3 years and now we are in the process of finalizing our divorce. I have also been seeking help from professional counsellors to deal with things at my end.
Having said that, once again, I apologize to this person and will do so privately as well. I apologized to her immediately after she brought her discomfort to my notice, and do so here again.
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. I know this is hard for you to read, and I hope I will make it up to you someday.
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.
I have complete faith in my integrity and will be happy to face any inquiry and present my case, if the person in question decides to go ahead with it.
I have been as true to myself as I can be with this response. Apologies to let all of you down."
— Raghu Dixit (@Raghu_Dixit) October 10, 2018
Here is my detailed response to the anonymous statement against me. I apologise for any wrong doing on my part and will do what it takes to correct it.
I have complete faith in my integrity and I have been as true to myself as I can be with this response. pic.twitter.com/vHuNzQq6G0