Kalakshetra case: Hari Padman's wife suggests "revenge" angle

Stirring up controversy in the already controversial sexual harassment case in Chennai's Kalakshetra, wife of the accused former assistant professor Hari Padman has alleged foul play in the complaints of the students. She posited that the complaints were not bona fide, but 'instigation' from two professors. She filed a complaint with the Chennai Commissioner with this regard. In her complaint she further alleged that her husband "chided" the students who behaved in a way that could "tarnish the image" of Kalakshetra. The students arraigned sexual harassment charges against her husband as an act of "revenge,” she added. On April 4 the City Police arrested Hari Padman two days after he was booked on sexual harassment charges based on a complaint by a former student of the institute. Adyar AWPS (All Women Police Station) had on April 2 booked a case under Section 354 A (sexual harassment), 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act against Hari Padman. The institute too had suspended him shortly after the arrest.