Hours after the night-long students' protest in Chennai’s Kalakshetra campus, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin addressed the allegations of sexual harassment against faculties of Kalakshetra in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, on Friday, March 31. In the Assembly, he assured that appropriate legal action will be taken if the allegations against the perpetrators are found to be true.
His statement came parallel to the visit of AS Kumari, Chair of the State Commission for Women, at Kalakshetra’s Rukhmani Devi College of Fine Arts (RDCFA). The CM said that no written complaint has been received by the police in this matter. “As soon as the matter regarding the protest was brought to my concern, I contacted the district Collector to know more about the issue,” he said, adding that officials including the Joint Police Commissioner and Deputy Police Commissioner of Chennai were sent to the Kalakshetra campus, and an investigation was held on March 30, Thursday.
Citing the course of events that led to the night-long protests, the CM detailed how on March 25, the National Commission for Women (NCW) announced that it had closed the investigation into the matter after the survivor “denied sexual harassment” during an inquiry by Kalakshetra’s Internal Committee (IC). “The Director of Kalakshetra, Revathi Ramachandran, also met the police chief and informed that no sexual misconduct was found during their inquiry,” he said.
“Today, ( Friday, March 31), a team of officials is conducting an inquiry with the students and administration of Kalakshetra. A team under a female inspector has also been deployed to ensure the security of the female students/protesters on the campus,” he added.
On Thursday, March 30, the staff and students of Kalakshetra extended their protest which began at around 8.30 am through the night after they boycotted exams and stayed back on campus demanding action on the sexual harassment allegations against four faculty members of the institute – Hari Padman, Sanjith Lal, Sai Krishnan, and Sreenath.
The protests began earlier on Thursday morning when students walked away from the prayer meeting after Hari Padman, a senior faculty of RDCFA came to the premises. Two survivors who TNM spoke to last week, recounted their experiences and named Hari Padman as their abuser. We also spoke to six staff members of Kalakshetra, all of whom attest that the environment in the institute is toxic.
The students also wrote to the Union Minister of Culture, G Kishan Reddy, under whose purview Kalakshetra Foundation falls, and to CM Stalin.