Kalakshetra teacher booked for harassment, its director gets panel summons

The protest, in which over 200 students participated, was called off past midnight Friday following promises of action from the police and the Tamil Nadu Women’s Commission.

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Outside the institute on Friday. (Express Photo by Gokul Subramaniam)

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As students of the Kalakshetra Foundation’s Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts in Chennai called off their protest seeking action against four faculty members over sexual harassment allegations, the Adyar Women Police registered an FIR against one of the faculty members.

Officers of the Chennai city police said a faculty member, Hari Padman, has been booked following a complaint. A senior police officer said Padman has been booked 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 Harassment of Women Act.

Also Read | TN women’s panel chief visits Kalakshetra: 'Got 100 written complaints, 4 names'

The officer said Padman will be summoned soon.

Tamil Nadu State Women’s Commission chairperson A S Kumari said the Kalakshetra director and deputy director have been called to the commission office on April 3 with records of the institute’s Internal Complaints Committee and their findings on the students’ complaints.

The protest, in which over 200 students participated, was called off past midnight Friday following promises of action from the police and the Tamil Nadu Women’s Commission.

The women’s panel chief, who visited the campus Friday, said she received as many as 100 complaints from students.

The police and the state women’s commission stepped in after the protests escalated and students boycotted exams.

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On Friday, CM M K Stalin made a statement in the Assembly that legal action will be taken if the allegations are confirmed.

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