Kalakshetra Foundation’s Governing Board has given a verbal assurance to protesting students that three faculty members - Sanjith Lal, Sai Krishnan, and Sreenath - will be dismissed, on Monday, April 3, said sources to TNM. The Board has also assured students of the suspension of assistant professor Hari Padman. The four men were accused of sexually harassing students. A formal process regarding the dismissal and the suspension will be notified within the next two days. Students had warned that they would continue their protests if their demands were not met.
The Kalakshetra Governing board had called an emergency meeting on Monday. While Hari has been arrested by the Tamil Nadu police, there has been no legal action taken against the other three.
The verbal assurances comes days after the students of Kalakshetra held a night-long protest in the campus of the college onThursday, March 30 , demanding immediate action against the four faculty members. They also wrote to the Union Minister of Culture G Kishan Reddy, as well as the Chief Minister MK Stalin.
The Adyar All Women Police, on Friday, March 31, booked Hari Padman under sections 354A (sexual harassment), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 4 (penalty for harassment of woman) of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Woman Harassment Act. He was arrested in Chennai on Monday. He has been accused of sexually harassing multiple students over the past years, and has now been booked based on a complaint filed by an alumnus of the institution.
The Chair of the Commission AS Kumari held a press meet on Monday, and asked the director of Kalakshetra Foundation not to allow the three faculty members accused of sexual harassment inside the college premises. She also said that she discussed with the Director Revathi Ramachandran and others about the Internal Committee (IC) and its functions. Kumari added that a probe will be undertaken once they go through documents and complaints filed in the past ten years.
Late last month, several students came out with allegations that the four faculty members sexually harassed multiple students. The state women’s commission also told TNM that they have received around 90 complaints from the students of the foundation, not only limited to sexual harassment.