Following allegations of sexual misconduct by an anonymous woman on Twitter, that was shared by singer Chinmayi Sripaada, folk singer Raghu Dixit has issued a statement on Wednesday, apologising to the woman who made the allegation. Chimanyi had on Tuesday tweeted a screenshot of a co-singer’s experience with Raghu Dixit. The singer, who wished to remain anonymous, had said that Raghu Dixit had misbehaved with her and made her extremely uncomfortable with his advances.
“He (Raghu Dixit) pulled me closer and asked me to give him a kiss when he was signing my cheque… Later at the door he tried to carry me and I ran down crying… He is a creep. He is obnoxious and I know many girls who have undergone worse with him,” the message in the screenshot says.
A day after the tweet, Raghu Dixit has put out a lengthy statement admitting to the incident which Chinmayi’s post referred to.
“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,” Raghu Dixit’s statements reads.
From a co-singer, a friend. I believe her.
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) October 10, 2018
Raghu Dixit - Your #TimesUP pic.twitter.com/gzgwy6Io9e
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.
— Raghu Dixit (@Raghu_Dixit) October 10, 2018
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
He also admitted to the woman messaging him after the incident stating that she did not appreciated his behavior. “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.”
Raghu Dixit, however, denied that he is a sexual predator or that he spoke ill of his wife. He also requested the trolls attacking singer Chinmayi to stop harassing her.
“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,” Raghu Dixit added.
Raghu Dixit went on to detail that he has separated from his wife and apologised to both women in question. “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,” he said.
However, the singer has not made any mention of a second allegation against him, which was also tweeted by Chinmayi. “I also agree that Raghu Dixit is a creep!! Because of our profession, we met a couple of times and he told me his life story about what a monster his wife is (I know her personally now so I know she is a superb lady)... Once he called me home to make me listen to new tunes for his movie and wanted my opinion on the same… While we were in his studio, he started his sob story and then while he was playing his tunes, he asked me to sit on his lap and listen, so I could listen closely,” the complainant, also a singer, alleged.
More Raghu Dixit pic.twitter.com/5ZOucRdxlR
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) October 10, 2018