Choreographer Ganesh Acharya accused of harassment, stalking and voyeurism

The police have charged choreographer Ganesh Acharya with various counts of harassment, causing hurt, criminal intimidation.

Sandeep Shinde, an Oshiwara police officer who investigated the allegation, said the charge sheet was just filed in the court of a metropolitan magistrate in Andheri.

Sections 354-a (sexual harassment), 354-c (voyeurism), 354-d (stalking), 509 (insulting the modesty of any woman), 323 (causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 (common intention to commit an offence) of the Indian Penal Code have been charged against Ganesh Acharya and his assistant.

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When contacted, the 35-year-old assistant choreographer stated that she had been informed that a charge sheet had been filed.

Ganesh Acharya declined to comment on the news. The Bollywood choreographer, who has been accused of sexual harassment by some coworkers, has previously refuted the allegations, calling them “false and baseless.”

According to his lawyer, Ravi Suryavanshi, the police did not notify them of the charge sheet.“I don’t have the charge sheet so I cannot say anything, but all the sections in the FIR were bailable,” Suryavanshi added.

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The assistant choreographer said in her complaint that Acharya had harassed her after she declined his sexual approaches. She accused him of making obscene remarks, showing her a pornographic movie, and touching her.

He allegedly informed the woman that if she wanted to succeed, she needed to have sex with him in May 2019. She declined, and the Indian Film and Television Choreographers Association, she claims, terminated her membership six months later.

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When she objected to Acharya’s antics at a 2020 meeting, the choreographer allegedly attacked her and his assistants assaulted her.

“After the female assistants beat me up, abused me, and defamed me, I went to the police, who refused to file a complaint and just registered a non-cognizable case.” The woman then stated, “I hired a lawyer to pursue the matter further.”