The Tamil Nadu State Women’s Commission (SWC) has received a complaint from a former student and tutor of Kalakshetra’s Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts (RDCFA) against employees of the institute, including PT Narendran, a governing board member of the Kalakshetra Foundation and a teacher at the institute, accusing him of sexual assault and transphobia. In the complaint, a copy of which TNM has accessed, the complainant details the transphobia, sexual harassment, and sexual assault that she allegedly faced at RDCFA.
She also alleged that she was subjected to sexual assaults by another teacher named Mohanan. The complaint also mentioned sexual exploitation by two other teachers.
According to sources, the complaint came a few days after the Kalakshetra governing board suggested Narendran’s name to the new Internal Committee (IC) that will look into sexual harassment complaints. Chairperson of the SWC AS Kumari confirmed to TNM that she received the complaint and said that she will act on it.
The complainant is a trans woman and had not transitioned while she was at the RDCFA between 1992 and 2006, first as a student, later as a guest artist, and then dance tutor. She said she was struggling with gender dysphoria when she joined Kalakshetra and that the harassment and assault took place before she underwent gender affirmation procedures.
She further said that the atmosphere in Kalakshetra was homophobic and transphobic, adding that she was regularly excluded for her body movements that staff members termed “inappropriate” and “feminine”.
“Teachers, students, and artists spent a lot of time together working on projects, inside and outside the classroom. We became very close. Teachers did not feel or act like they were only mentors. I felt like we had made deep and meaningful friendships. But these relationships ended at my expense, with hurt and shame. I recognize now that these relationships demonstrated several waves of abuse of power — I was sexually exploited, mocked, mentally hurt, and emotionally harassed on many occasions,” the complaint said.
Four other Kalakshetra employees have faced sexual harassment allegations before Narendran and Mohanan. A former student of RDFCA, Narendran is also a widely-known Bharatanatyam dancer and is believed to wield considerable influence in the field.
When TNM reached out to Narendran for a response, he said that he was unaware of such a complaint against him.
TNM spoke to Mohanan as well, who, while saying that he is unaware of the complaint, also insisted that it is “100% false.” He further added, “I have 33 years of service in Kalakshetra. I am not that type of person. According to my experience, I have not touched any girl I taught in Kalakshetra. This is a false complaint. I am 100% sure it is not about me.”
Hari Padman, another faculty member, continues to be in police custody after his arrest on April 3 following a complaint of sexual harassment by a former student. His bail plea is set to be heard this week. There are also complaints of sexual harassment against three other repertory (performance troupe of Kalakshetra) members — Sreenath, Sanjit Lal, and Sai Krishnan. While the three were dismissed on April 3, Hari Padman has only been suspended as per service rules.
While multiple allegations were made regarding sexual harassment at Kalakshetra from December last year, the management dismissed the harassment allegations and put a gag order on students and staff against ‘spreading rumours’. On April 4, advocate BS Ajeetha, the only external member of the IC stepped down. In her resignation letter to Kalakshetra Foundation, she said, “I am quite disturbed by the recent happenings in your institution and the response of the administration to the issues.”
Ajeetha further added, “The present atmosphere in the institution and the large-scale discontentment of the women students and staff make me rethink as to whether I should continue to be an external member of the IC. I have my own reservations regarding the responses made by the administration to the present controversy. Hence, I do not want to associate myself anymore with your institution and particularly to continue as a member of the IC.”
The present complaint from the trans woman survivor also comes in the wake of multiple allegations of caste abuse, body shaming, colourism, rumour mongering, and other forms of harassment at Kalakshetra, which TNM had reported on earlier.
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