More than two years after a Facebook post by Leela Samson triggered outrage regarding the alleged sexual harassment of Kalakshetra students by teachers, the veteran Bharatanatyam exponent, on Sunday expressed regret for "wrongly mentioning" the name of a student in a social media post in 2022.
"On December 23, 2022, I put a post on Athena, former student and presently tutor at the Kalakshetra Foundation, on Facebook. I had wrongly mentioned her name in connection with a male faculty. I regret the error and no further comments will be made by me on her in the future," the post by Leela stated, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
In December 2022, Leela Samson had accused a professor of the institute of molesting young girls (students) and in a comment on the post, alleged that he was in an inappropriate relationship with an intern, Athena Sadiq (name mentioned with consent). Though she had not named the professor, it was targeted at the teacher, Hari Padman, who was arrested by Greater Chennai Police in April 2023 based on a separate sexual harassment complaint. Leela had later deleted the post.
Responding to Samson's post, Athena said the veteran dancer held immense value in the artistic world and it was important that she remained vigilant and not be influenced by others. Blaming her for posting something without verifying the authenticity of the rumour, Athena said it took her over two years of legal battle to make Samson realise her mistake and make her understand the weight of her position and the power of her words. "Let your voice always be your own, never borrowed from others," she said.
Both Athena and Hari Padman had then denied the allegations about their relationship. Additionally, Athena, who is now a tutor at the institute, filed a civil defamation case against Leela, which was recently settled after mediation. The XVI additional civil court ordered Leela to pay her `8 lakh and publish the regret post on Facebook.
Meanwhile, Hari was released on bail in June 2023. The trial in the case continues to move at a snail's pace in the Saidapet magistrate court, sources said, with the accused Hari even obtaining an order from the Madras High Court for a speedy trial. According to a source, who was then with Kalakshetra, the December 2022 post by Leela Samson was considered as a 'whistleblower' to the alleged complaints of sexual harassment in the institute that emerged subsequently, as per the report by The New Indian Express.
