Sona Mohapatra Criticizes Delhi Government For Inviting Kailash Kher To Perform At Mayur Utsav

Multiple allegations were raised against Kailash Kher during the #MeToo movement. Sona Mohapatra, who had come forth with an incident insinuating Kher has now questioned the Delhi government’s decision for asking the singer to perform at their Mayur Utsav festival.

Among the many women who have named and shamed him, three of them, including Mohapatra, have described their experiences with Kher in detail.

The first one is by journalist Natasha Hemrajani, who claimed that Kher touched her leg inappropriately while she was interviewing him at his Mumbai residence.

Simran Soni, who was a fan of Kher, said that her experience with him was smaller but she had to speak out. “Although what happened with me was smaller than the rest of the accounts, I spoke up because I wanted to empower other women. I was a fan reaching out to him on social media and he saw me as a good target. He used to say inappropriate things under the garb of sufism, things that were plain creepy,” she said in Firstpost report.

The third instance involved a family friend of Kher’s who chose to remain anonymous. According to her, it all started with a text message she sent to the singer on his birthday in 2014. Kher responded with a call which was laced with sexual innuendos.

“He told me he felt a spiritual connection with me and also found me physically attractive. He then used words such as ‘sweet’ and ‘sexy’ to describe me and later asked me to accompany him for an upcoming tour. I remember being petrified and confused.” She politely refused the offer by saying she would let him know later as she had classes to attend.

Kher kept insisting that she join him on his tours. She said, “He sent me a message which read, ‘Travel with me. You won’t have so much fun travelling with your boyfriend or husband’.” She hasn’t talked to him after this episode.

Sona Mohapatra calls her experience similar to many other women’s experiences. “I met Kailash for coffee in Prithvi Café to discuss a forthcoming concert where both our bands were playing and after the usual, a hand on my thigh with lines likes, your so beautiful, feel so good that a ‘musician got you’ (Ram) not an actor. I left not soon after.”

Like with the other instances, Sona Mohapatra says Kher did not stop there. “That did not deter Kailash Kher though. On landing in Dhaka and on my way to the venue with the organisers, keeps calling me and when I don’t pick up, calls the organisers phone to get through to me and asks me to ‘skip’ the soundcheck and join him in his room instead to ‘catch up’,” she said.

She also said that Kher didn’t stop to think for a second that she was someone Kher had known all along and that he had availed a favour from her partner Ram Sampath to create a personal track. She also turned down his apologies.

The singer has now criticised the Delhi government for including Kher’s name in the list of artists performing at the Mayur Utsav.

The festival happened on December 14, 15 and 16. Kher’s performance did not have a great reception in the state. The singer performed in front of near empty chairs.

Image Courtesy: BBC

Recommended

Shows Like ‘Upload’ And ‘Devs’ Imagine Our Dreams Of A Digital Afterlife

Director Ramkumar’s Next With Vishnu Vishal And Amala Paul Is ‘Minmini’

Jojo Rabbit Review: An Uneven, Occasionally Funny Anti-Hate Satire