Lakshmy Ramakrishnan has accused Tamil Film Public Relations Officer Nikkil Murugan of sexual misconduct. The actor accused Nikkil of using his position to extract sexual favours. She says that if she tried to if ignore his advances, then he would not invite her to award shows or promote her films well.
Through a series of tweets, Lakshmy laid bare the accusations against Nikkil. She said that Nikkil has attempted to cross the ‘modesty line’ with her and has indirectly asked her for sexual favours. Lakshmy says that she ignored his advances. And when that did not do the trick, she handled him ‘aggressively’.
Appreciate your gesture of expressing solidarity with victims. Would like to throw some more light on the issue. @onlynikil has at times crossed modesty line & tried to express his right to favours indirectly. Handled it myself, sometimes with diplomacy, sometimes aggressively. https://t.co/xvoka4ULTH
— Lakshmy Ramakrishnan (@LakshmyRamki) October 21, 2018
Lakshmy says that she gets invited to award events only if she is in Nikkil’s good books. She alleged that she lost out on the opportunity to attend Filmfare due to Nikkil’s machinations.
My experience with @onlynikil is if I am in his good books, I get invited to award functions, my films will be noticed, but I chose not to lose my self respect & took the brunt @filmfare. I have tweeted about this earlier, but without revealing names @metoo has empowered me now https://t.co/xvoka4ULTH
— Lakshmy Ramakrishnan (@LakshmyRamki) October 21, 2018
Lakshmy says that she had to maintain a cordial relationship with Nikkil as doing otherwise would mean the end to her film career. Lakshmi says that the #MeToo movement empowered her and this is why she has made the accusations public. Otherwise, it will be unfair for her to stand by the #MeToo movement, she wrote.
I have laughed and smiled from outside while I was fuming inside, even now I discussed 109 times before exposing @onlynikil , because I am scared he will damage my film! But decided to face it, otherwise it will be unfair to stand by #MeTooMovement https://t.co/xvoka4ULTH
— Lakshmy Ramakrishnan (@LakshmyRamki) October 21, 2018
. @Actor_Siddharth if @onlynikil is capable of this behaviour with me who is , may be 10 yrs older to him, imagine young girls who r at his mercy?!! Can’t our society / industry treat women as professionals and level the ground for all talents irrespective of gender?! #metoo
— Lakshmy Ramakrishnan (@LakshmyRamki) October 21, 2018
When contacted, Nikkil first claimed that he was unaware of the accusations. Later he said that he had no comment to offer on the issue. “I am not sure what I can say here,” he added.
Lakshmy Ramakrishnan was unavailable to comment.
A spokesperson for Lakshmy confirmed that the actor stood by her accusations and wanted to share her experiences now that the #MeToo movement has empowered victims of sexual abuse and harassment.
Nikkil Murugan has been working as a Public Relations professional for over two decades. In the past, he has handled stars such as Rajinikanth and Kamal Hassan.
