Choreographer Ganesh Acharya charged with sexual harassment and stalking

The Mumbai Police has filed a charge sheet against Bollywood choreographer Ganesh Acharya, accusing him of sexual harassment, stalking and voyeurism in a case filed by a co-dancer in 2020, a police officer said on Thursday.Oshiwara police officer Sandeep Shinde, who investigated the complaint, said the charge sheet was recently filed in the court of a metropolitan magistrate concerned at Andheri. Ganesh Acharya and his assistant have been charged under 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.

Ganesh Acharya has not reacted to the development yet. The popular choreographer, who was accused of sexual harassment by his co-workers, had denied the charges in the past and described them as “false and baseless”. When an FIR was filed against him in 2020, his legal team reportedly filed a defamation case against the complainant. The report also stated the co-dancer alleged that Ganesh had been harassing her after she turned down his sexual advances. She even accused him of passing lewd comments, showing her porn movie and molesting her. According to the woman, in 2019, Ganesh had asked her to have sex with him if she wants to succeed in the industry. She refused, and six months later, she said, the Indian Film and Television Choreographers Association terminated her membership.