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Sexual harassment complaint: Kalakshetra forms probe panel, sacks 3 teachers
Meanwhile, Madras high court advocate BS Ajeetha resigned as an external member of the foundation’s Internal Complaints Committee saying she was “disturbed by recent happenings and the response of the administration.”
The Kalakshetra Foundation, in the middle of a storm of sexual harassment complaints against its teachers has set up an independent inquiry committee headed by justice K Kannan, a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to look into the allegations, suspended one of the teachers involved, and dismissed three others.
Meanwhile, Madras high court advocate BS Ajeetha resigned as an external member of the foundation’s Internal Complaints Committee saying she was “disturbed by recent happenings and the response of the administration.”
On Monday, the board of the Kalakshetra foundation met and decided to form the independent inquiry committee, a decision formally announced on Tuesday. The committee will comprise retired justice K Kannan, former director general of police Letika Saran and Dr Shobha Varthaman, who works with Doctors Without Borders, as members. “The internal complaints committee stands reconstituted. A new student counsellor and an independent advisory committee shall also be appointed immediately to strengthen the administration of the Kalakshetra foundation,” the foundation said in a statement.
Assistant Professor Hari Padman, whose name has repeatedly featured in allegations of harassment, who was arrested by Chennai police on Monday, has been suspended pending inquiry, the foundation’s statement added . The remaining three staff members accused of harassment, Sanjith Lal, Sai Krishnan and Sreenath “may be dispensed with immediate effect”, the statement said, promising a secure and inclusive environment for its students.
Padman was produced before a magistrate in Chennai’s Saidapet court on Monday and sent to jail.
Padman was the first to be accused by students of the Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts (in the Kalakshetra campus) but the foundation sought to dismiss their claims. On March 19, Kalakshetra’s administration released a statement that said their ICC found no truth in the allegations.
Kalakshetra’s students began protesting on March 30 demanding that four teachers including Padman be suspended . The protest was temporarily called off on March 31 following the intervention of the head of the Tamil Nadu State Women Commission A S Kumari. She spent five hours on campus and collected close to a 100 written complaints on sexual and mental harassment. The issue was raised in the state legislative assembly the same day and chief minister M K Stalin promised legal action if the allegations were found to be true.
On Tuesday, Ajeetha resigned from her role as an external member of the Foundation’s Internal Complaints Committee. In a letter to the Kalakshetra director Revathi Ramachandran, she said, “I am quite disturbed by the recent happenings in your institution and the response of the administration to the issues. The present atmosphere in the institution and the large-scale discontentment of the women students and staff make me to rethink as to whether I should continue to be an external member of the IC attached to the institute. 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 and it shall come into force with immediate effect.” HT has seen a copy of her note.
As a member of the ICC constituted under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Places Act, 2013, Ajeetha said that she has been associated with awareness programs and proceedings before the IC in the past four years. “To the best of my knowledge and ability I had rendered service as the member of IC,” Ajeetha said. “(I) Hope better counsel will prevail to the administration and things will be sorted out in a judicious manner which will be acceptable to all the affected students.”
