Parvathy Thiruvothu, the Malayalam actor who was last seen in 2021 film Aarkkariyam, on Monday apologised on social media for ‘liking’ rapper Vedan’s post in which he issued an apology after sexual misconduct allegations were levelled against him by several women.
Many criticised the rapper’s apology, calling it ‘fake’ and urging for legal action in the comment section of his Instagram post.
Actor Parvathy, who initially liked his post, undid this later and shared a note on Instagram explaining her actions and apologising to the victims. She said that she had liked the rapper’s post “with the thought that many men don’t even acknowledge that they were at fault.” But went on to add, “I know clearly that it is not something to celebrate. I truly believe that it’s of paramount importance that the survivors be respected as they go forth with the case.”
Hirandas Murali, popularly known by his stage name Vedan, is a Thrissur-based rapper who has composed anti-casteism and Dalit politics-themed rap songs in Malayalam. He was recently called out by several women for alleged sexual misconduct. The women had shared their experiences on condition of anonymity on a Facebook page called Women Against Sexual Harassment.
The issue came to light on Thursday when one social media user spoke out during a Clubhouse discussion in which singer Chinmayi Sripaada was a speaker. Chinmayi was slated to collaborate with fellow musicians Vedan, Arivu, Govind Vasantha and Haris Saleem on an upcoming music video called From A Native Daughter, directed by Malayalam filmmaker Muhsin Parari.
However, when the issue of alleged sexual misconduct was raised against Vedan, Chinmayi on Friday announced that she will no longer be associated with the project. “A lady came on [the] Malayalam Clubhouse room I was in yesterday and shared that Rapper Vedan has been accused by multiple women of assault, harassment, gaslighting,” she tweeted, and added, “In light of this information, I refused to be a part of ‘Native Daughter’ which features Arivu, Muhsin Parari, Vedan, Haris Saleem and Govind Vasantha.”
Muhsin Parari also announced that the production house, The Writing Company, has decided to suspend work on the music video until the concerned parties have been served a just resolution to the matter. In his social media post, he also noted that the team had conveyed this to those who spoke to them on behalf of the survivors as well as the rest of the crew members. “We understand that this is a matter of grave concern, one that requires urgent intervention and redressal,” he added.
The apology note issued by Vedan following these developments read: “I post this with utmost sincerity to correct my wrong-doings. I feel great self-contempt and terrible regret as I look back on the lapses in my conduct towards you, my women friends and partners who came to me in trust and friendship. I totally deserve to feel this pain. But the fact that this does not in any way redress the agony my actions have put you through haunts me very deeply….”
Parvathy, in her post on Monday, mentioned that she got to know that “a few survivors said the [rapper’s] apology was not a sincere one” and she had thus removed her ‘like’ from his post.
Apologising to the survivors who spoke up against Vedan, Parvathy added, “I stand corrected. Whether to forgive and how to heal is always the right of the survivor and I’ll only always stand by them. I would like to apologise if you felt let down by me.”
Earlier this year Parvathy had condemned the decision to give the ONV literary award to Vairamuthu, the Tamil poet, lyricist and #MeToo accused.
