According to a report, police had arrested an assistant professor and an accomplished dancer Hari Padman last week after a former student lodged a complaint, accusing him of sexual abuse.
The development came after days of protests by more than 200 students of the institute, located in the city of Chennai in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The students said sexual harassment had been going on at the campus for years and accused the administration of ignoring their complaints.
In a statement issued on its website, the Kalakshetra Foundation — which is an autonomous institution under India’s culture ministry — blamed “vested interests” for trying to “sully” its reputation.
After it began circulating on the internet, the foundation announced a three-member panel, led by a retired high court judge, to investigate the allegations. It also suspended Mr Padman and said the services of the three repertory artists had been “dispensed with pending inquiry”.
The foundation said it will be inappropriate to make any comment on the incidents as the case is still in progress. However, the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women has also launched an inquiry into the allegations.
“There are hundreds of students studying in Kalakshetra. Ask them if I ever misbehaved with them or misspoke. I have never abused anybody. I stand by my conscience and I know they do not have a shred of evidence,” he told News18, adding that he would rely on CCTV footage to prove his innocence.
His wife, Divya Hari Padman, had also defended him and lodged a counter-complaint against the complainant and two of Kalakshetra’s teachers, accusing them of levelling false charges against her husband out of “jealousy and professional rivalry”.
She said the charges against her husband were “an act of revenge” because he had “chided” some students for bad behaviour and that the two teachers had “instigated” the former student to lodge the complaint.
Phogat made the allegations at a public protest in New Delhi on Wednesday, backed by several other top wrestlers, male and female.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) — who is also an MP for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party — and trainers were culpable, she told reporters.
“Women wrestlers have been sexually harassed at national camps by coaches and also the WFI president,” she told reporters. “I know at least 10-20 girls in the national camp who have come and told me their stories.”
The allegations come months after the coach of the country’s national cycling team was sacked following sexual harassment charges.
India is a deeply hierarchical society and Phogat said many wrestlers were intimidated from coming forward because of their humble origins.
“They are scared because of their family background. They can’t fight them because they are powerful.
“Wrestling is our only livelihood and they are not letting us do it. Our only option is to die. So might as well do good before dying,” she added.
She did not state that she was a victim herself.
Fellow wrestler and Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, who was also part of the protest, endorsed the allegations.
“Athletes work hard to win medals for the country, but the federation has done nothing but let us down,” she tweeted.
According to local media reports, Singh denied the allegations, saying he was “ready to be hanged” if even a single woman wrestler proved the sexual harassment charge.
India’s sports ministry has asked the federation to respond to the allegations within 72 hours, reports said.
Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, who is male and also joined the protest, accused Singh of running the federation in a high-handed manner.
“The job of the federation is to support the players, take care of their sporting needs. If there is a problem, it has to be solved,” he tweeted.
“But what if the federation itself creates the problem? Now we have to fight, we will not back down.”