A few days back, a 33-year-old female choreographer had filed a chargesheet against Bollywood choreographer Ganesh Acharya for depriving her of working in the film industry, commanding commission and also forcing her to watch adult videos and now another woman has come forward and accused him of sexual assault.
A senior background dancer addressed to the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Tuesday, alleging that she was sexually abused by the choreographer back in the 90s. The charges came after a week after the assistant dancer filed an FIR against him for alleged sexual harassment; However, Acharya has refused both the cases.
According to a report in mid-day, the complainant said, “It happened to me three decades ago. I have been married and have had kids, but he hasn’t changed one bit. When I read about the FIR, I knew I had to speak up too. In 1990, I used to go to Sahiba hall in Andheri West where several masters take dance classes. Acharya used to assist Kamal masterji. I was 18 then and working as a non-member dancer.”
Further, the complainant said, “One day, Acharya said it’s mandatory to learn Jive for auditions and invited me to his class in Santacruz East. Classes were held on Sundays at 11 am. His assistant Dilip picked me up from Khar subway and dropped me to a room on the first floor of Hotel East and West. I did not suspect anything till that point. There were no other students. Acharya said Dilip has gone to bring the sound system and other students. On the pretext of teaching me Jive, he kissed my neck and cheeks.”
“When I resisted, he threw me on the bed and said he wanted to make love to me and marry me. I kept saying no but he kept moving his hands over my body. I was too terrified and told him I am on my period. He finally got off from me and said, ‘Kya yaar, mood kharab kar diya’ ” she reported.
Lastly, she said, that she ran out of the hotel and did not return to his class and ever since the incident she hasn’t told anyone about the incident except her husband.