Noted Pakhawaj player Pt Ravi Shankar Upadhyay arrested for sexual misconduct

Pt Ravi Shankar Upadhyay, a noted Pakhawaj player and a guru at the capital’s Kathak Kendra, was arrested for alleged molestation after a 23-year-old student of the institute registered an FIR at Chanakyapuri police station. The woman, who has been learning Kathak at the institute for 11 years, is under the tutelage of Pt Jai Kishen Maharaj, Pt Birju Maharaj’s elder son. Dance students at the institute have to earn one of the exam credits by learning a percussion instrument. The student began learning from Upadhyay about two years ago. An Indian Express report noted that the purported CCTV footage of the incident has also been handed over to the police by Suman Kumar, the director of the institute. 

She was reported saying that the accused would touch her inappropriately whenever she touched his feet according to the custom. The incident that pushed her into lodging the complaint is said to have occurred on 14 December when Upadhyay allegedly molested her by 'putting his hands on her waist and kissed her on her forehead.' Following the incident, the student sent an email to Kumar and proceeded to file an FIR. The Indian Express report quoted the director as saying, "I was yet to take any action when the police came in plain clothes and arrested him. I have already suspended him. We will fully cooperate with the police."Upadhyay, son of the maestro Ramji Upadhyay, belongs to the Gaya gharana and carries forward a 400-year-old musical legacy.