Telugu TV serial producer Venkat Chalapathy has reportedly been arrested on charges of sexual harassment filed by a woman TV artist in Hyderabad on Wednesday, 5 March.
Reports suggest that anchor and actress Sandhya has registered a complaint at the SR Nagar Police Station in the city. In her complaint, the 32-year-old actress has claimed that Venkat Chalapathy, who is small time producer of TV serials, had been forcing her to have a sexual relationship with him.
Inspector GV Ramana has confirmed the news. "We have booked him (Venkat) under IPC Section 354 (assaulting a woman to outrage her modesty) and arrested him. An investigation is still ongoing," The News Minute quoted the inspector as saying.
The website reports that the actress had been a victim of the producer's harassment since December 2014. She had complained about the issue to the Borabanda Police Station several times, but the police had not taken any action against Chalapathy.
After preliminary investigation, the SR Nagar Police took Chalapathy into custody for a detailed probe. They are now reportedly interrogating the producer and will take action based on his statement.
While many newcomers encounter this kind of sexual harassment at the beginning of their career in small screen industry, very few dare to come out in public and talk about harassment and casting couch. Most tend to keep it under wraps.
