Vilayat Khan nephew charged for sexual assault on minor

Khan, a Pennsylvania resident who plays sitar, surbahar and tabla and teaches Indian classical music on a wide array of instruments, has been charged with multiple counts of corruption of a minor, indecent assault, and related sexual offenses. At the preliminary hearing on Wednesday, the girl, now 16, alleged that Khan, who had taught her keyboard lessons at his home in the fall of 2006 and the following winter, molested her repeatedly and made sexual comments.

The girl said that she told Khan in February 2007 to stop doing such things and he complied. She did not tell her parents about her allegations until a year later. After she did, she provided police with e-mails confiding the incidents to friends.

Khan was permitted to leave court on his own, but Judge James Gallagher asked him not give lessons to minors and surrender his passport.

Khan, son of sitar and surbahar player Ustad Imrat Khan and nephew of Vilayat Khan of famous Etawa gharana, is featured on at least 16 CDs and has played in concerts throughout the world.