Singer Chinmayi Sripada has revealed her own experience of sexual harassment at the hands of lyricist Vairamuthu. In a series of tweets on Monday, Chinmayi said that she was asked to visit Vairamuthu’s hotel room after an album release event held in Switzerland in the year 2005 or 2006.
The singer said the organiser of the event urged her to ‘co-operate’. She put her foot down and left for Chennai immediately. Apparently, the organiser told her that she would not have a career if she refused.
We sang. We went to Switzerland. We performed.
Everyone left. Only my mother and I were asked to stay back.
A D V E R T I S E M E N TThe organizer(I dont remember his name) asked me to visit Vairamuthu sir in a hotel in Lucerne.
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) October 9, 2018
The singer also said that Vairamuthu threatened her when she refused to sing for his book release event sometime later.
3, maybe 4 years ago, he had a book release function & asked me to sing Tamizh Thaai vaazhthu.
I said I would be unable to.
He in turn responded ‘I ll tell (a politician) you spoke ill of him on stage, yelled at me and kept the phone down
I bawled. My parents in law consoled me— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) October 9, 2018
This is the first time that Chinmayi has publicly named her accuser. Earlier this week, she spoke out about her experiences with sexual harassment. In one particular tweet, she referred to a ‘respected man’ who threatened her with dire consequences when she refused to fall in line with his demands.
‘Respected Man’ once raged and raged when I refused to do his bidding in a professional setting due to a prior commitment. Threatened political trouble from ‘Higher ups’. I was shaking. Thought the end is near. It left me in tears.
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) October 5, 2018
Chinmayi also shared screenshots of her conversation with a friend who wished to anonymously recount her experience with Vairamuthu. The friend revealed that Vairamuthu almost kissed her when she met him at his Besant Nagar residence.
I cannot stop shaking.
My Friend will remain anonymous.@vairamuthu
A D V E R T I S E M E N TWhy people cannot share at the risk of their careers.
And bloody hell #MeToo!! pic.twitter.com/REj1UcTxtL
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) October 8, 2018
Chinmayi went on to post screenshots of various women who shared stories about the hostel run by Vairamuthu and his wife Ponmani in Chennai.
From the girl’s hostel owned by the poet. pic.twitter.com/P9hykBUHJM
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) October 9, 2018
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) October 9, 2018
More @vairamuthu and his Ladies Hostel pic.twitter.com/8sZqrByVUX
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) October 9, 2018
Later, Chinmayi shared a list of names from the South Indian Classical dance and music scene. The singer said that many women had messaged her privately about these men and had accused them of misconduct.
South Indian Classical Dance and Music scene
B M Sundaram
Pappu Venugopal Rao
Sunil Kothari
Lokanatha Sarma
T N Seshagopalan
Sasikiran
RavikiranA D V E R T I S E M E N TMy inbox is crawling with stories from people.
For you too the #TimesUP
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) October 9, 2018
My earlier tweet on #CarnaticCreeps is vindicated. Trust me – a lot of portraits from Music Academy walls have to be removed if we go that route https://t.co/tMub8AD5Zg
— Ganesh Athreyaa (@athreyaa) October 9, 2018
O S Thyagarajan
Nagai Sriram pic.twitter.com/tgaAzB4moW— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) October 9, 2018
Earlier this week, three women who wanted to remain anonymous, shared their experiences with Vairamuthu to journalist Sandhya Menon. The journalist, who unmasked the predatory sides of many prominent members of the media, shared a screenshot of one woman’s harrowing account on Twitter.
A survivor recounted an incident with the lyricist when she was in her late teens. She alleged that Vairamuthu had called her over to his pad in Seethammal Colony under the pretext of appreciating her work and had tried to touch her inappropriately. She managed to escape from the house.
