Arjun Sarja molested 4 more actresses; I wish they come out in open: Sruthi Hariharan

News Network
October 22, 2018

Bengaluru, Oct 22: Dropping another #MeToo bombshell, actress Sruthi Hariharan said on Sunday that four more women from the film industry were sexually harassed by multilingual actor Arjun Sarja.

Addressing a press conference, Sruthi said that after she spoke up about how Sarja had touched her "inappropriately" during the shoot of 'Vismaya', four other actresses had narrated similar experiences but they remained anonymous. "I wish they come out in the open," she said. 

She continued: "I have acted with superstars like Darshan and Sudeep but none of them misbehaved with me. Only this actor (Arjun Sarja) misbehaved with me. I have been collecting evidence to fight him legally, and whenever time permits, I will give those details." 

Sruthi got a flood of support from various quarters, including actor Prakash Rai, but the Kannada film industry remained divided over her explosive accusation. 

Rai wrote on Facebook: "Sruthi Hariharan is indeed a talented actress in Sandalwood. Similarly, we shall not forget that senior actor Arjun Sarja is also our pride. But in the wake of Sruthi's allegation, all of us need to understand the trauma that this woman has undergone. Even though Arjun has denied the charges, he must apologize to her for hurting her on that day." 

Actress Shraddha Srinath tweeted in Sruthi's support. "Sruthi and Taapsee are my heroes of today." Sruthi also got support from actresses Neethu Shetty and Ragini Dwivedi. 

Meanwhile, the Film Industry for Equality and Rights (FIRE) has called on other women to speak up against sexual harassment. The organisation's chairperson, Kavitha Lankesh, and its secretary Chetan Kumar promised to support all such women. 

Sarja, too, found supporters in several producers and actors while his daughter and actress Aishwarya Arjun called Sruthi's allegations "disturbing and false". "I would say it is conniving as this is something least expected of her. I had admired her whenever she stood up against harassment. But now I understand why she stood up for such issues as it is the only stuff that gained momentum over anything else," Aishwarya told.

Aishwarya said her family knew who was behind the accusation but she refused to take names. "How could she presume what my dad's intention was? One just cannot accuse the other based on what they think. In fact, during the premiere of the movie, she was happily speaking to him. No woman, if she was ever harassed, would do so. Now, she is lying," she added.

Comments

Fairman
 - 
Monday, 22 Oct 2018

If romance is allowed in front of the camera, and also it is to the extent of if real married couple enjoying.

then why is it a  big fuss that this action will not adversly effect the life

 off the camera.

 

Our ethics is built on wrong foundation. Watching such a unethical film after paying money is allowed and it is treated as liecensed enjoyment,  but the same can not be done outside the film.

It is a double standard of our society.  As long as such a practice is allowed, expect more such criminal actions. Those harrassed  female actresses are the main reasons to act with actors. These actors are not behaving outside girls than their heroins.

Do not expect these heroes to be free from human tendency to commit such acts.

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News Network
June 11,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 11: A love triangle took a violent turn when a final-year engineering student was assaulted by both her current and former lovers. She's now battling for her life in the ICU, police said. 

For the 22-year-old woman, who lives in Sidedahalli, it was a case of fast-changing relationships. She broke up with a fellow student Babith, 21, a few months ago after having dated him for four years. Four months ago, she started seeing another collegemate named Rahul, 22, and everything seemed fine. 

On June 7, she went to Rahul's house, ostensibly for his birthday party, after informing her parents. Babith got wind of it and barged into Rahul's house. The trio got into an argument, and Rahul abused and assaulted her. 

The woman decided to leave him, and went with Babith to his house in Chikkabanavara, North Bengaluru. But things didn't end there. Babith picked an argument with her. Things became so bad that he attacked her with a helmet. 

He then panicked and called her parents, asking them to take her home. When her parents arrived, they found only Babith, his mother and sister in the house. Babith's family directed them to a bedroom where she was lying motionless, with her face being badly wounded. 

When her parents demanded to know what had happened, nobody responded. They took her to a hospital where her condition remains serious. A while later, Babith came to the hospital and gave her parents the key of her scooter. He told them what had happened and allegedly warned them against filing a police complaint. 

Her mother, however, filed a complaint with the jurisdictional Soladevanahalli police. According to her, Babith had fought with her daughter at their house for not taking his phone calls six months ago. 

Shashikumar N, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), said both the men had been arrested and that further investigations are underway. 

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News Network
July 25,2020

Chennai, Jul 25: Two weeks after a 62-year-old widow accused him of harassment, including urinating outside her house, the Chennai Police on Saturday registered an FIR against ABVP national president Dr Subbiah Shanmugam.

Dr Shanmugam, Professor and HOD, Department of Surgical Oncology, Kilpauk Medical College and Government Royapettah Hospital, has been booked under sections 271 (disobedience to quarantine rule) and 427 (mischief causing damage) under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Tamil Nadu Women Harassment Prevention Act.

The FIR was lodged exactly two weeks after the woman’s relative Balaji Vijayaraghavan filed a complaint with the Adambakkam police accusing Dr Shanmugam of harassing his aunt, who is living alone in her apartment following her husband’s death last year, following an argument over a parking slot. 

The action came after Vijayaraghavan alleged that the police were not filing an FIR due to the ABVP functionary’s “political connections.”

Dr Shanmugam and the woman were living in the same apartment complex in Nanganallur and an argument broke between them over a parking slot.

“He wanted to use our parking lot. We agreed but demanded a nominal charge for using it. He was outraged by our demand and even broke our signboard at the parking lot,” Vijayaraghavan wrote in his complaint.

He also alleged that Dr Shanmugam began harassing her by throwing “pieces of chicken” outside her apartment despite knowing she is a vegetarian.

CCTV footage corroborates with the allegations of urinating outside the residence of the widow. However, the ABVP called the incident as a “malicious and derogatory propaganda” by the Congress’ student wing of NSUI.

"The video shared by NSUI with an allegation of harassment is tampered with and is being used with malafide intentions. The two families have discussed this within their housing society and have already concluded that the harassment allegations were caused due to misunderstandings and are untrue,” ABVP National General secretary Nidhi Tripathi said.

Vijayaraghavan also alleged in his two-page written complaint that the ABVP national president had urinated outside the woman’s apartment gate and had been throwing garbage and used masks at her gate.

In his complaint, Vijayaraghavan also said the family was “concerned about her safety” while asking police to take action against Dr Shanmugam, who he says, “has a bad track record in maintaining rapport with neighbours.”

Also Read: ABVP national president accused of harassing woman, urinating at her doorstep

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News Network
March 29,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 29: Seven new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Karnataka since Saturday 5 pm to 2 pm on Sunday.

The total number of positive cases in the state stands at 83, out of which five have been cured/discharged and three have lost their lives, according to the Karnataka Health Department.

A total of 979 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in India, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

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