Arjun Sarja moves Karnataka HC seeking to quash Sruthi Hariharan’s sexual harassment complaint

Actor Arjun Sarja  moved Karnataka High Court on Tuesday in order to dismiss the FIR filed against him based on actress Sruthi Hariharan’s complaint  of sexual harassment, reports The News Minute. [caption id=“attachment_5416661” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] (L) Sruthi Hariharan; (R) Arjun Sarda. Images via Facebook[/caption] Sarja claimed that the criminal charge was completely false and that there was clear intention of “trickery as a measure of shielding counter attack to escape legal actions initiated”. Sarja’s petition read Hariharan’s complaint as a “fertile concoction of legal brains” and stated that it was a broad improvement from the initial Facebook post that was her first instance of confession. A Times of India article also states that the two accounts, that of the social media post and the official complaint contained “vastly different” records, as per Sarja. The actor hence termed the complaint as an “afterthought” on Hariharan’s part. Sarja’s petition stated that following investigation, it was revealed that most of his email IDs and social media accounts were cloned and used to “illegally tag” people. Hariharan, in a  Facebook post dated 20 October,  claimed  that Arjun had pulled her close and run his hand on her back without her consent.  The actors were cast as a married couple and had to shoot a romantic scene, which required them to hug. The actor had allegedly even gone on to suggest to the director that the scene be used as ‘foreplay’ in the romantic sequence. Hariharan had filed the official complaint against Sarja on 27 October in Cubbon Park police station in Bengaluru. The case was registered under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (making physical contact, unwelcome and sexually coloured remarks) and 509 (using vulgar gesture and actions) of the Indian Penal Code. Recently, the Karnataka Women’s Commission chief also wrote a letter to the police commissioner asking him to submit a report of development within 15 days. Network 18, of which Firstpost is a part, has received complaints of sexual harassment as well. The complaints which are within the purview of the workplace have been forwarded to our PoSH committee for appropriate action.