Woman Artiste Alleges Sexual Harassment By Dance Teacher In Odisha’s Sambalpur, Guru Refutes

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Sambalpur: A dance guru of a reputed cultural organisation in Odisha’s Sambalpur faces allegation of sexual harassment by a woman artiste.

The artiste, who has been member of Sambalpur Kalaparishad in the city for the last 7 years and has been performing stage shows with its troupe, has made the allegations in her social media handle.

In a series of posts, the artiste has stated that dance guru, Surya, attempted to take sexual advantage of her during a trip to Bengaluru.

A group of 16 dancers including the woman, led by gur Surya, had gone to Bengaluru to perform on the occasion of ‘Nuakhai’ festival in September. The troupe performed on the stage on September 22 night and returned to their rooms in the hotel they were staying, said the woman in her posts.

After some time, the guru in an inebriated condition came to one of the rooms where the woman was present with other artistes. He tried to sexually exploit the girls and when they resisted, he left the room.

After remaining silent for a month in fear of social stigma, she came out in the open to expose the guru. Stating that she had quit the Kalaparishad after being associated with it for seven years due to guru Surya. “I had high regards for the guru. I never expected such behaviour from him. He does not deserve to be called a guru,” she wrote in one of her posts.

But the woman has not filed any complaint regarding the incident with the police.

Guru Surya, on the other hand, strongly refuted the allegation. Stating that the allegation was baseless, he questioned why the artiste was silent for a month.

He also called for an impartial investigation to reveal the truth and said he would file a defamation case against her if the probe finds her allegation false.