Vairamuthu responds to sexual harassment allegations; Chinmayee calls him 'liar'

Seven-time National Award-winning lyricist Vairamuthu today responded to the sexual harrassment allegations levelled against him by two anonymous women, who chose to open up against the powerful lyricist in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

The two women put out messages on the alleged misdeeds of the lyricist, who happens to be a hardcore feminist himself and who is known to have come down harshly on men's rights activists who have had disagreements with feminists.

The messages of the alleged victims were shared by journalist Sandhya Menon and also singer Chinmayee Sripada, who had come down hard on the lyricist on Twitter.

Vairamuthu, too, took to Twitter to respond to the charges.

He tweeted in Tamil, "Ariyapattavargal Meedhu Avadhooru parappum anaagarigam naadengum ippodu naagareegamaagi varugiradhu. Anmaikaalamaaga naan thodarchiyaaga avamaana paduthapattu varugiren. Avattrul Idhuvum ondru. Unnmaikku Purampaana edhaiyum naan porutpaduthuvadhillai. Unmaiyai Kaalam sollum. (The uncultured act of defaming celebrities is now becoming the culture of those across the country. In recent times, I am being continuously insulted. This is one such instance. I do not take into consideration anything other than the truth. Time will tell the truth).

The moment Vairamuthu put out his response, Chinmayee responded with a tweet of her own in which she called the National Award winner a liar.

She tweeted 'LIAR' quoting Vairamuthu's tweet.

She then put out another tweet in which she said, "To EVERYONE who will debate about me on channels - whether you slut shame me or call me names Vairamuthu is a sexual predator. I will take this to my grave. And to Tamil channels who wouldnt even carry a ticker OR report, wanting a byte *after* Delhi news channels. No."

It may be recalled that one of the victims had alleged that Vairamuthu had misbehaved with her while she was working on a project with him as an 18-year old. She had said, "On the pretext of explaining lyrics, he came to me, hugged me and kissed me. I did not know what to do. I said OK sir, thank you and ran from his house [sic]." The woman had also claimed that the lyricist was being protected because of his 'political connections.'

The other victim, who claimed to have undergone a similar experience, said the lyricist 'almost kissed' her on the pretext of a casual conversation. The victim added that it was 'the worst day of my life'.