The Madras High Court, on Monday, June 3, granted bail to Sheejith Krishna (51), a former professor of Chennai’s Kalakshetra Foundation, accused of sexual assault. The Neelankarai all-women police had arrested him on April 22 for rape based on the complaint of two former students.
The two complainants were students of Kalakshetra between 1995 and 2007, and they alleged that they were sexually assaulted by Sheejith multiple times. One of the women moved the Madras High Court in December 2023, following which the court directed the police to take up her complaint. TNM had earlier reported on the case and police sources had then confirmed that an investigation was conducted before Sheejith’s arrest was made.
The Kalakshetra Foundation is a Union government-funded institution and has been declared an institute of national importance. In 2023, several students raised accusations against the institute for propagating a toxic culture, and many allegations of sexual harassment were levelled against senior faculty Hari Padman and three members of the repertory — Sanjith Lal, Sai Krishnan, and Sreenath. In March 2023, the students staged a night-long protest demanding action, following which Hari Padman was arrested in April by the Adyar All Women’s Police Station (AWPS). However, no legal action has been taken so far against the other three accused.
An independent inquiry committee headed by retired Justice K Kannan, and comprising former Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) Letika Saran, and Dr Shobha Varthamanwas was set up by S Ramadorai, Chairman of the Kalakshetra Foundation to look into the allegations. The committee found Hari Padman guilty of sexual misconduct and suggested that the students who complained of sexual misbehaviour by Sanjith Lal, Saikrishna, and Srinath, be provided with legal assistance to file police complaints.
