Child abuse not taken seriously by Indian men: Shweta Pandit

Mumbai: Singer Shweta Pandit, who has accused veteran music composer Anu Malik of sexual misconduct, says child abuse is not taken seriously by men in the country.

Pandit on Monday tweeted: "All these 'young men' on Twitter, who keep asking 'so what happens next' in a few days of my tweet are forgetting that I kept this in my heart for 17 years. We live in a country that constantly questions 'only women' on the silliest of things. We don't want any more dumb questions."

"Post my tweet I've also realised that child abuse is not taken seriously by most men (mindset is totally wrong) in India. 'Just a peck', 'oh it must be like uncle', 'it must be on cheek' came across some disturbing mentalities/replies online India #MeToo Maneka Gandhi."

Pandit, in a Twitter post, had recounted her ordeal with Malik in an incident dating back to 2000. She claims once in a cabin at a studio, he told her he would give her a song with Sunidhi Chauhan and Shaan "but first give me a kiss now".

"He then smiled, what I would recall the most evil grin I've seen," Pandit said of the incident when she was all of 15 years old.

Malik has denied allegations that he sexually harassed Pandit, who has called him a "pedophile" and "sexual predator".

She then wrote that if "you guys are trivialising my experience as a 15-year-old as 'just a peck' or no big deal, you need to be slapped by your mother at home and also know that you have the germs of becoming a predator yourself!"