Hari padman kalakshetra

By Latha Srinivasan: Kalakshetra, the globally recognised Tamil Nadu-based arts and cultural centre, has been rocked by allegations of sexual harassment for weeks now. The allegations, first On Tuesday, a five-member team from the Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) visited Kalakshetra Foundation to investigate the allegations. The team, which is led by SP S Maheshwaran, recorded statements of students and faculty. Kalakshetra Foundation, on its part, has HOW IT ALL BEGAN The Kalakshetra sexual harassment saga has been brewing online since December 2022 when students replied to a now-deleted social media post by Leela Samson, a former director of the foundation. In her Facebook post, Leela Samson alleged that a male teacher was “known to be threatening and molesting (those) who are not yet adults". Samson said, "The said teacher must be brought to bookâ€æ Rukmini Devi [the founder of Kalakshetra] did not build this institution and all her ideals to be abused so.” A couple of months later, one of the students filed a complaint against Hari Padman with Kalakshetra’s internal committee (IC) about a harassment incident from around four years ago. When nothing reportedly came of the complaint, several students started coming out in the open and posted similar allegations on CARESpaces, an online safe space online, against Hari Padman and three other staff members. And that is when the row spilled out into the open. The allegations of sexual harassment made on CAREsp...

The Dirty Dance: The sexual abuse scandal rocking Kalakshetra, India’s premier classical arts academy Hundreds of students, men and women, have complained that the faculty at Kalakshetra, known as the IIT of fine arts, has been sexually harassing them. Some have said the abuse has been rampant since 2008 and the administration did little about it. So far, one teacher has been arrested It has been dubbed the #MeToo movement of performing arts in India. And at the centre of it is Kalakshetra, India’s premier cultural institution teaching Bharatanatyam, Carnatic classical music and visual arts. There have been allegations of sexual abuse and harassment against faculty at the Chennai institute in Tamil Nadu – at the Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts run by Kalakshetra, which is known for teaching Bharatnayam. There have been protests by students and one arrest, as more victims speak up about the alleged harassment. The allegations and the arrest The rumbling started in December last year when Bharatnatyam dancer Leela Samson put up a social media post, only to delete it soon after. She was also a former student and the last director of Kalakshetra. Samson wrote in the post on the “haven of the highest art and contemplation — now turning a blind eye to how young girls are treated”. A male member of the staff is “known to be threatening and molesting (those) who are not yet adults… The said teacher must be brought to book… Rukmini Devi did not build this institution and all her ...

The police had registered the First Information Report (FIR) against Padman at the Adyar All-Women Police Station. He was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 354A (sexual harassment) and 506 (criminal intimidation), and Section 4 (penalty for harassment of woman) of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act. The three other faculty members – Sanjith Lal, Sai Krishnan, and Sreenath – were dismissed from service, but no legal action was taken against them. After Padman's arrest in April, his wife Divya Padman had filed a complaint with the Chennai Police, alleging that he was arrested on a 'false complaint'. She sought action against the survivor and two teachers at the institute.

The professor was booked after two days of protest by the students demanding action against Hari Padman and a few faculty members. Hari Padman was booked under IPC Sections 354A (sexual harassment) 509 (use of words, gestures or acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and Section 4 of Women Harassment Act. The complaint was lodged by a former student at an All Women Police station in the city. Police sources said the man was sending obscene messages and comments to her through social media. The victim had also mentioned that the faculty harassed her while she was studying at the institute and she had to discontinue her studies because of him. The accused kept harassing her even after she left the institution, a senior police officer said. The development comes on a day when Chief Minister M K Stalin promised thorough investigation and action against wrongdoers in the Tamil Nadu assembly. Over 100 students gave written complaints to the chairperson of the Tamil Nadu women’s commission who visited the campus and also called off their two-day sit-in protest on the campus on Friday. The protesting students also sent letters to the CM and union culture minister seeking action against four male teachers. The letter written by a newly-formed Kalakshetra students' union, which was shared by the students with TNIE, said students have been facing sexual and verbal abuse and harassment for decades from assistant professor Hari Padman, and repertory artists Sanjit Lal, Sai Kri...

Divya also claimed teachers Nirmala Nagarajan and Nandini Nagarajan instigated the victim to file a false complaint against Hari. She has based her allegations on an incident that occurred at the foundation in April 2022. In April, the foundation celebrated the 80th birthday of professor emeritus A Janardhanan. During the celebration, Janardhanan praised Hari Padman in front of all faculty and students and said that he should be made the head of the concert section. This caused jealousy among Nirmala Nagarajan and Nandini Nagarajan, she alleged. ALSO READ | They then used the victim and made her lodge a false complaint, the complaint states. She also claimed the victim was once reprimanded in front of all students by her husband for "nefarious and inglorious activities" due to which the victim had "developed annoyance" against her husband. The complaint stated that the victim alleged the harassment took place in July 2019, but the victim allegedly attended the birthday function of one of the couple's daughters that September. ALSO READ| Divya claimed that the victim also thanked Hari Padman on social media in 2019, after discontinuing her course at the foundation. The complaint was forwarded to the office of Deputy Commissioner of Police Adyar. CHENNAI: Divya Hari Padman, wife of Hari Padman accused in the Kalakshetra sexual harassment case, lodged a complaint with Chennai police commissioner Shankar Jiwal on Wednesday alleging that her husband has been arrested based on a...

The Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Saidapet granted him bail recently after initially being declined bail by a magistrate court and the principal sessions court. Hari Padman, who was arrested on April 3 by the Police following complaints of sexual harassment of students of the institute, had earlier moved the Madras High Court with a plea for enlarging him on bail but his plea was turned down. However, he withdrew the petition before filing a fresh one. ALSO READ | When the second bail application came up before Justice AD Jagadish Chandira on Tuesday, his counsel sought to withdraw it citing a grant of bail by the city court. Subsequently, the judge allowed the taking back of the application. Following complaints of sexual harassment, Hari Padman was suspended from the institute. The foundation constituted a committee headed by a retired judge to go into the issues. Certain affected students approached the Madras High Court seeking the framing of a gender-neutral policy for protecting the students from being sexually harassed. WATCH | A brief The court ordered the foundation to frame such a policy and re-constitute the internal complaints committee with representatives of parents and teachers. CHENNAI: A city court in Chennai has granted bail to assistant professor Hari Padman, a dance teacher employed with the Rukmini Devi College for fine arts run by the Kalakshetra Foundation who was facing sexual harassment charges. The Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Saidapet gran...