Leela Samson, former Director of Kalakshetra Foundation, has issued a public expression of regret for wrongly naming a student in a Facebook post made in December 2022, which triggered a major controversy at the institution.
In a brief statement on her Facebook page, Samson wrote: “On December 23, 2022, I put a post on Athena, former student and presently Tutor at the Kalakshetra Foundation, on Facebook. I had wrongly mentioned her name in connection with a male faculty. I regret the error and no further comments will be made by me on her in the future.”
Samson’s admission comes after nearly two years of controversy stemming from her initial post, which alleged misconduct by a male teacher — Hari Padman — and inadvertently drew a student, into a scandal that disrupted her life and career. The student later alleged that the mention of her name, and its subsequent circulation in media reports and social media, had caused immense distress, mental agony, and damage to her reputation.
This ‘regret’ post came after the dispute was resolved recently through a mediated settlement following both civil and criminal complaints. The dragging of the student into the issue prompted the filing of a civil suit and related criminal charges. During the subsequent mediation process, as told to The Commune, Leela Samson expressed regret for her actions and agreed to do whatever was needed to make amends. This included putting up a public post on Facebook as a form of apology. In exchange for this, the complainant agreed to withdraw both the civil suit and the criminal case, effectively putting the matter to rest.
Before making the Facebook post, however, Leela took careful measures to control its visibility. She removed nearly all her friends from her account — reducing their number from approximately 2,000 down to just 5 — ensuring that the message would reach a limited and carefully curated viewership. Furthermore, as requested by the complainant, Leela made the post visible to the public while retaining this small number of friends. This tactic meant that the majority of her friends, and even many of her previous social media connections, remained oblivious to its content. In this way, the defendant was able to fulfill the terms of the agreement without broadly disclosing the details or drawing significant attention from her social circle.
As per the settlement, Leela Samson is to pay a total sum of ₹8 lakhs in two instalments — half upon withdrawal of the civil suit and the rest upon submission of a consent affidavit in the quash petition. The complainant also agreed to pursue quash proceedings before the Madras High Court.
Kalakshetra Issue
The controversy resulted in large-scale student protests, the temporary closing down of the institution, and the arrest of Hari Padman, who was later released on bail after the police failed to submit a chargesheet within the mandated time frame. A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against Leela Samson and four other individuals under Section 509 of the IPC (intent to insult a woman’s modesty).
The FIR alleged that Samson made unfounded and derogatory comments, adding to the mental agony faced by the student, and further fueling rumors about her character. The complainant stressed in her filing that there was “not even a shred of truth” to the comments made by Samson and that their publication had a profoundly harmful effect on her personal and academic future.
What Did Leela Samson Post?
The complainant was a dance intern at the Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts (“RDCFA”) and has been associated with the institution for the past 7 years. The FIR states that the complaint pertains to the post made by Ms. Leela Samson, former director of the Kalakshetra Foundation on her Facebook profile in December 2022.
The post has been deleted but the complainant claims that it has brought ill repute to her name and upheaved her personal and academic life. She also accuses Samson of having written the post with a highly vindictive agenda.
The post made by Samson alleged that a male staff member indulged in acts of sexual harassment inside the campus. The alleged male staff member mentioned therein is one Mr. Haripadman who happened to be one of the complainant’s mentors and he had trained her for years together.
In the comments section of the now-deleted Facebook post made on 23 December 2022 by Leela Samson, the complainant says that various comments were made about the alleged misdemeanours committed by Mr. Haripadman and that what was particularly disconcerting was that her name was linked in an uncharitable manner with Mr. Haripadman in one of those comments on the Facebook post.
The comments said, “His victims are many. (Name hidden) had an abortion and wanted him to marry her. And so on. He had a mistress who is an intern – (name hidden) known to bully the younger students. Everyone knows. Junior students apparently ask the question – what do have to do to get a role in the concert section!”
The comment on the Facebook post mentions the complainant’s name (removed for anonymity), although misspelled makes an explicit reference to her and the FIR says that it has given rise to an immense upheaval of her personal and academic life. The contents of the comment, at first glance, besides being false and baseless, are patently derogatory, disparaging, and vituperative, which projects the complainant in an extremely disparaging manner, the FIR said.
The context, tone and tenor of Leela Samson’s post gives away that she had used the word “mistress” with a sexual connotation.
The reference to the complainant as a “mistress”, the FIR said, was an attack against her dignity and an affront to her modesty and as such attracts the provision of Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The police subsequently closed the complaint against Samson. When the complainant asked for the reason, she was informed that Samson claimed “mistress” meant “ejamaani” (in Tamil ejamaani means a feudal landlady) in the context of the intern giving tuitions to Haripadman’s son. As Samson had already removed her post, the police found her explanation “satisfactory” and decided to close the case.
So the Adyar AWPS Inspector investigating the #Kalakshetra case is also probing the complaint against #LeelaSamson & teachers by a student @karmayogi_06 . Complaint was closed. When @karmayogi_06 asked why, she was told… Wait for it… Mistress means Ejamani!!! (1/n) pic.twitter.com/hTBnfAXLXb
— Sandhya Ravishankar (@sandhyaravishan) May 31, 2023
The FIR that was shared with The Commune also said that the tone of the now-deleted Facebook post and the comments section indicate that they have been made only to pursue an ulterior motive of vengeance against the Foundation and the current management members, through any means necessary, even if such means were to include the outright defamation of a young student such as the complainant.
The FIR further stated, accordingly, Ms. Samson dragged the complainant’s name into this entire episode to reinforce her self-perceived narrative of deeply rooted corruption and rot in the institution. The FIR said that Samson dragged the complainant’s name without doing any prior fact-checking. The FIR also said, “Before mentioning my name in the Facebook post, it would have been prudent and proper for Ms. Leela Samson to have checked with me about the veracity or genuineness of the rumours she was supposedly hearing about me. The same was not done. There was not even a shred of truth to the allegations mentioned in the comment.”
The complainant also stated that Hari Padman had been her mentor ever since the first post-diploma year and had been on good terms with his entire family including his wife, and children and that was the reason why she visited his residence. She underscored that there was nothing more to this other than that of a mentor and student relationship.
The Kalashetra Foundation’s Internal Complaints Committee conducted an inquiry and found no truth in the allegations made in the Facebook post about the alleged relationship.
Various media houses published articles about the inquiry, which further affected the individual’s reputation. The complainant also listed the websites where her name has been mentioned with regard to the inquiry conducted by the Internal Complaints Committee of the foundation and some of these publications can be accessed in the below links.
(a) Kalashetra Chennai has a PoSH problem. Students fume, gag order imposed, art world shaken – The Print
(b) Sexual harassment allegations at Chennai’s famous Kalakshetra, college issues gag order – The News Minute
The complainant expressed strong dismay at Ms. Leela Samson’s attempt to damage their hard-earned reputation among peers. The individual blamed Ms. Leela Samson’s initial Facebook post for triggering the events that caused them distress and stress. She also accused specific members of the teaching staff and fellow students of actively causing discomfort in their personal and academic life.
Samson’s expression of regret is a significant and somewhat dramatic twist in the controversy. It signals a moment of reconciliation and reflection for both the institution and the individuals involved in the incident.
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