The #MeToo wave on Saturday hit Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) CEO Rahul Johri and ace music composer Anu Malik, even as actor Alok Nath hit back at allegations against him by filing a defamation suit.
While Johri was asked to give an explanation by the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) following allegations of sexual harassment in an anonymous post on Twitter, Malik denied allegations against him by singer Sona Mohapatra.
Sona, who had accused singer Kailash Kher of making sexual advances towards him, described Malik as a serial predator and said that Malik had phoned her at odd hours and had called her ‘maal’ in the presence of her husband Ram Sampath.
Johri’s alleged victim shared her ordeal with poet-writer Harnidh Kaur, who uploaded the screenshots detailing the incident on Friday night. Appointed as the BCCI CEO in June 2016, he is the first person to be named in the Indian cricket administration.
The woman, who claimed to be a former colleague of Johri, wrote the incident took place when he was associated with a “niche satellite channel”.
Took advantage
She alleged he took advantage on the pretext of giving her a job.
In a post, the victim said: “…had emails sent about a BUNCH of head honchos in media. Survivor has asked to not put out all the names. Rahul Johari, your #timesup #metoo.
Following the revelation, CoA issued a statement on Saturday evening and said it would take a decision once Johri submits his explanation within a week’s time.
“The allegations have appeared as a part of the ‘me too’ movement. Though the said allegations do not pertain to his employment with the BCCI, the Committee of Administrators of the BCCI has deemed it appropriate to seek an explanation from Mr Johri in relation to the allegations,” the CoA said in a statement.
Before joining the BCCI, Johri was Discovery Networks Asia Pacific’s executive vice-president and general manager for South Asia.
In Mumbai, Malik said that his name was being dragged into the row.
“I never worked with her also. She is just dragging my name into this. I have not even met her,” he said. Kailash Kher so far has maintained silence on this issue.