Chennai: Tamil singer Swagatha S. Krishnan has accused a Tamil music composer of serial sexual abuse and intimidation.
Swagatha, known for songs like Yeno Pennae from ‘Ispade Rajavum Idhaya Raniyum’ and Kaadhal Kanmani from ‘Bachelor’, referred to the composer as the ‘Epstein of Madras’ without naming him in a recent interview.
Speaking to the YouTube channel Sivasankari Talks, Swagatha claimed she left the Tamil industry and moved from Chennai to Rishikesh as the frightening experience left a deep scar on her mind.
Swagatha said she discovered a similar pattern after speaking to other women who were this man’s ‘victims’.
The singer alleged that the abuse took place inside the music director’s studio. She said the room was soundproof, locked and stuffed with CCTV cameras, including hidden ones.
Swagatha alleged that the act was recorded and the footage was later used to threaten and intimidate her.
“It was a soundproof room… even if
I screamed, no one could have heard me,” she said.
Referring to the infamous Epstein files in the US, the singer said the “music director was the king” of such acts.
Detailing the modus operandi of luring his victims, Swagatha said that the music composer developed an atmosphere of trust before asserting himself.
She said he would target independent women, borrow money from them, delay repayment, and slowly take control.
Swagatha claimed she later received messages from other women who had gone through similar experiences. Secretly recording women, and even children who came to the studio, had become “like a hobby” for the accused, said Swagatha.
The alleged abuse hurt her professionally and emotionally.
She said that she was shamed, falsely accused of theft, and spoken about negatively within the industry. The abuser’s family also took part in discrediting her, she claimed.
She even underwent skin treatments as she struggled with the memory of being touched, depending on her sister and therapy to cope with the trauma.
“I felt like the parts of my body he touched shouldn’t exist,” she said.
She had decided to open up now as she is determined to take legal action against the composer.
She had earlier consulted lawyers and senior officials, but refrained from filing a formal complaint at the time due to a lack of courage and support.