Choreographer Ganesh Acharya granted bail by Mumbai court in sexual harassment case

A magistrate’s court in Mumbai on Thursday granted bail to choreographer Ganesh Acharya in a sexual harassment case. A case had been registered against the choreographer at suburban Amboli police station in February 2020 for allegedly beating up an assistant choreographer. The complainant also alleged that Ganesh Acharya forced her to watch pornographic videos whenever she went to meet him at his office in 2009-10, adding that he had done the same to other women. In April this year, Mumbai Police had charged Ganesh with sexual harassment and voyeurism among other charges. Also read: Police charge choreographer Ganesh Acharya with harassment, stalking, voyeurism

Ganesh Acharya has never been arrested in the case. He was granted bail after he appeared before the magistrate’s court on Thursday. The complainant has alleged that he, along with two others, had assaulted her during a function of the Indian Film and Television Choreographers Association in Andheri on January 26, 2020. She also added complaints about sexual harassment that had occurred in the past.

Based on the complaint, the police registered a case under sections 354-A (sexual harassment), 354-C (watching, or capturing the image of a woman engaging in a private act), 354-D (stalking), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC against Ganesh Acharya. The choreographer has denied all the allegations.

Ganesh Acharya, 51, started his career as an assistant to choreographer Kamalji in the early 1990s. He worked in his first film Anaam in 1992 but gained widespread fame and recognition for his work on the song Badi Mushkil from Lajja in 2001. In 2007, he turned director with his maiden project Swami, starring Manoj Bajpai and Juhi Chawla. He has also acted in a number of films, most notably as the villain in the 2012 film Rowthiram.

(With PTI inputs)