Hari Padman, one of the four men accused of sexual harassment at Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai, has been remanded to judicial custody till April 13. Hari, who is a senior dance teacher of Kalakshetra’s Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts, was arrested from north Chennai earlier on the morning of Monday, April 3, and produced before the Saidapet Metropolitan Magistrate's court later in the day.
Hari is the only accused person against whom a First Information Report (FIR) has been registered so far. The Adyar All Women police had booked him on March 31 under sections 354A (sexual harassment) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and section 4 (penalty for harassment of woman) of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Woman Act.
Meanwhile, Kalakshetra Foundation’s Governing Board has given verbal assurance to protesting students that the three other accused — Sanjith Lal, Sai Krishnan, and Sreenath — would be dismissed, and that Hari Padman would be suspended. The protesting students insisted that they would appear for their exams only after the dismissal orders of the three other accused (who are employed by Kalakshetra Foundation as part of their performance troupe), and the suspension of Hari Padman were notified. The Board’s assurance came days after the students initiated protests seeking action against the four accused.
Several students have accused Kalakshetra Foundation’s administration of propagating a toxic culture. Many allegations of sexual harassment have been levelled against four men working at Kalakshetra — Hari Padman, Sanjith Lal, Sai Krishnan, and Sreenath.