Chinmayi Sripaada stands up for women harassed at AR Rahman’s chaotic concert: ‘I wish you didn’t have to go through sexual harassment but…’

Chinmayi Sripaada has shared a long message in support of those who were allegedly harassed at AR Rahman's concert in Chennai.

Chinmayi Sripaada shared a message of solidarity on social media.

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Singer Chinamyi Sripaada, a frequent collaborator of AR Rahman, has shared a message in support of women who alleged that they were molested at the composer’s Marakkuma Nenjam concert that was held in Chennai on September 10. Chinmayi, in a long post on X (formerly Twitter), extended her support to the victims.

“You did not deserve this. You deserved music, you deserved fun, you deserved joy, you deserved a concert experience that made you cry; cry from the joy you felt from the music, from feelings that evoked nostalgia. You deserved warmth, and the shared euphoria from other fans as everyone sang along, shouted along, and jumped along to songs that we love to vibe and groove to. You deserved an experience that made you recount it with love, think of it with fondness and wish for the next one to make a beautiful new memory associated with this magical beautiful thing called music, with a musician we adore. I wish you didn’t have to go through sexual harassment but you did and wish as I might that such experiences never happen to anyone, this wish doesn’t come to pass (sic),” she wrote.

Her message also read, “I wish you didn’t have to go through sexual harassment but you did and wish as I might that such experiences never happen to anyone, this wish doesn’t come to pass.”

To the girls whose trauma I share – a core memory, as my body keeps score:

It is not your shame.
It is not your fault.

A trauma that doesn’t scratch away, scrub away, wash away.

You did not deserve this.
You deserved music, you deserved fun, you deserved joy, you deserved a…

— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) September 12, 2023

Many women took to X to share incidents of sexual harassment at the overcrowded event. One user claimed, “the number of men who used the crowd as an excuse to violate women today.. we were struggling to breathe and were also violated.” Another user claimed, “Woke up to having such a weight in my heart.The unsafe feeling i have today is haunting me. One of the people who groped me,literally looked into my eyes when I just asked him for the way and move.”

ALSO READ | Singer Shweta Mohan draws ire for ‘tone-deaf’ post supporting AR Rahman over Marakkuma Nenjam concert issue

The concert was highly mismanaged which led to a stampede-like situation. Many families were separated from their kids and women alleged that they were groped by strangers. Meanwhile, Rahman told The Hindu, “We will face this and fix it, because every soul is important to me. I told my son (AR Ameen) this: anything that we do in partnership, people do not look at the partnership, they look at us. The partnerships might disappear, but we will remain. I now have to think beyond just the musical aspects of a concert. We will, hopefully, not let this happen ever again.”

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