Anu Malik offers to resign as reality show judge: channel sources
Mumbai, Nov 21: Music composer Anu Malik, who has been accused of sexual harassment by several women, including singers Sona Mohapatra, Neha Bhasin and Shweta Pandit, has offered to step down as a judge of a reality show on Sony TV, channel sources said on Thursday.
"He conveyed to the channel today that he wants to step down till he clears his name," a Sony Entertainment Television insider told PTI.
However, it is uncertain whether the channel accepted his resignation.
Malik remained unavailable for comment.
Mohapatra welcomed the move.
"Thank you to all the women & men & the media of India who supported our campaign #MoveOutMalik. A repeat offender like Anu Malik on national tv triggered a lot of trauma, pain & stress in many of our lives. I have been ill for a while & I hope to sleep well tonight," the singer wrote on Twitter.
The development comes a week after the music director denied the allegations, saying he was being "cornered" for something he did not do and may take legal action.
In a statement posted on social media, Malik called the claims "false and unverified", adding they had affected his "only source of livelihood".
Malik was first accused of misconduct last year during the #MeToo wave and was briefly dropped from the singing reality show.
The claims resurfaced with his reinstatement this September.
When he was reinstated Mohapatra penned an open letter, in which she recounted several allegations of harassment against Malik. She also lambasted musicians Sonu Nigam, Vishal Dadlani and Neha Kakkar for supporting him.
Even veteran singer Alisha Chinai had accused Malik of molesting her during the shooting of her hit track "Made in India".
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
