CHENNAI: Even while probing the allegations of sexual misconduct against one of its faculty, Hari Padman, the administration of the Kalakshetra Foundation failed to address concerns raised by an intern regarding the hostile atmosphere she has faced due to rumours about her allegedly perpetuated by faculty, TNIE has learnt. As a result, the female intern said her mental health had been affected and her future is now a question mark.
The 24-year-old intern said her troubles began when a former director of Kalakshetra named her a “mistress” of Padman in a Facebook post last December. TNIE has seen screenshots of the post, which was subsequently deleted. The comment about the intern spread quickly throughout the campus. The intern, who said she had no such relationship with Padman, said her life became hell.
“The post caused immense damage to my reputation and career. And above all, it affected my mental health as I was accused of having an illicit affair with my teacher,” said the intern, who has been at Kalakshetra since 2016 and completed her diploma and post-diploma in Bharatanatyam there. TNIE reached out to the former director as well as her lawyers for a comment, in vain.
“I understand the former director wanted to raise the issue of sexual harassment on the campus, but she did not need to make derogatory remarks against me. I am an unmarried girl and nobody thought about my future, my life, my dignity,” said the intern. She has filed a complaint with the National Women Commission (NCW) against the former director.
The NCW has asked the former director to appear before it on April 11. The intern also sent her a legal notice seeking an apology. In an interim response, the former director, through her lawyers, denied the allegations. In January, the institute conducted a seminar by an advocate on sexual harassment.
“The advocate asked for questions from the audience. A male faculty stood up and asked what can be done if a student has an affair with a teacher, which is not consensual in the beginning but later becomes consensual,” she said.
“His question was a direct reference to the rumours about me. Immediately, all heads turned to me. Hundreds of students and teachers were looking at me as if this was a confirmation of the former director’s post,” she said. “After that, all the juniors stopped talking to me and the behaviour of teachers towards me changed,” she added.
Legal experts said such humiliation is also a form of harassment. “Humiliating treatment likely to affect the lady employee’s health or safety is considered as sexual harassment as per Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Place (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) (PoSH) Act, 2013. If the student was cornered by teachers, then action should be taken against the teachers for tarnishing her image,” said K Saritha, a lawyer.
When Kalakshetra’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) inquired into the allegations against Padman, the intern was questioned. She told the panel her relationship with Padman was of a student and a teacher. She also told the panel about the difficulties she’d faced on campus due to the rumours. However, she said the administration has not done anything to mitigate the hostile atmosphere created by the rumours.
Advocate BS Ajeetha, the external member of ICC, who recently resigned, confirmed her complaint was heard by the committee. “We found the allegations made in the post about her were improper. She told us she had become a victim and no student was talking to her. We submitted a report saying the rumours are false and the director also counselled her,” Ajeetha told TNIE.
“As the post was made by an outsider, she was keen to file a legal case... The student did not mention names of any teachers in her complaint to ICC,” said Ajeetha. The intern has now left campus. “From childhood, I nurtured big dreams of becoming a renowned Bharatnatayam dancer… After this episode I know my career is over,” she said.