Arjun Sarja files Rs 5 cr defamation suit against Sruthi Hariharan

Kannada actor Arjun Sarja has filed a Rs 5 crore defamation suit against Sruthi Hariharan, who accused him of sexual harassment on the sets of bilingual film Vismaya/ Nibunan. Sruthi was the first actress from Kannada industry to share her #MeToo story.

The defamation suit was filed by Arjun’s nephew Dhruv Sarja on the actor’s behalf at the Bengaluru City Civil Court. A few hours before filing the lawsuit, Arjun’s manager also lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime Cell claiming the actor’s social media accounts have been hacked.

In response to Sruthi’s allegations, Arjun had earlier responded, “I am saddened by the allegations and I don’t know how I can correct this. I will definitely file a case. I will speak about improving the shots and dialogues but I don’t have the cheap mentality of using this profession to touch women inappropriately.”

The director of the film had also supported Arjun. Sruthi added to her original statement on Wednesday through her Facebook account and said that she was not being directed by anyone to accuse Arjun. She also stressed that if the actor decided to file a case against her, she had enough evidence to back her claims.

Sruthi also slammed the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce’s president Sa Ra Govindu of being biased and not taking the right action. It should be noted that the KFCC does not have an official body that allows women to register their complaints about workplace safety. This led to actor-Congress leader Ambareesh playing mediator between Sruthi and Arjun during a meeting that was held in Bengaluru.

According to a report in The Newsminute, two crew members on the condition of anonymity corroborated Sruthi’s account of events that took place on the sets.

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First Published: Oct 25, 2018 18:55 IST