Take the judicial route, says composer Amaal Mallik on #MeToo allegations against uncle Anu Malik

Singers Sona Mohapatra and Amaal Mallik indulged in a little Twitter battle as the latter sought to explain his quotes about his uncle and music composer Anu Malik.

On the eve of making his debut as a judge on Zee TV's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs, composer Amaal Mallik suggested that victims of sexual assault ought to take their fight to the courts 'instead of social media' to ensure justice.

Speaking with the website Bollywoodlife.com, Mallik touched upon the allegations against his uncle by singers Alisha Chinai, Sona Mohapatra and Shweta Pandit. The report quoted him as saying, "I support the movement and I'm completely with it. What happens is, when people talk on social media, it goes a little wrong. When you have accused someone and taken their name, you should drag it to the courts and through the judicial system try to achieve what you want to achieve. Because if you don't take it ahead, then why did you even do this in the first place?"

Anu Malik stepped down from his position as a judge on season 10 of Sony's popular singing competition show Indian Idol following the allegations.

Elaborating on his point, Amaal Mallik said, "You have insulted a man, got him off a reality show... He has two daughters, all of those things... Either go with it with full force and stand by it or just don't. Today the law and we are with you. Women have more power than men. Take the judicial route instead of social media." 

Replying on Twitter, Mohapatra said, 'Having Anu Malik as an uncle must be trauma enough and no fault of yours and then Sonu Bhaiya has confused you impressionable minds enough about courts being the only ones who can/should curb sexual predators.Not true, Amaal Mallik, we all have a duty to call out and curb such menace.'

Mallik replied to Mohapatra's tweets, saying that his statement was being misconstrued. Mohapatra responded by saying it was the woman's prerogative to decide whether to approach the courts.

Mallik went on to say that true justice means taking the accused to court and proving them guilty, but he apologized for having hurt Mohapatra by his statement.

Throughout the controversy, Anu Malik has kept mum. Only his lawyer slammed the allegations against the composer as 'false and baseless' in October 2018.