Charith Balappa.
Credit: X/@bharati
Bengaluru: TV actor Charith Balappa was arrested in Bengaluru for sexually harassing a colleague, police said on Friday.
Balappa, who has acted in Kannada and Telugu television serials since the mid-2010s, was taken into custody following a complaint filed by a 29-year-old actress.
The complainant, who has also been acting in Kannada television serials since 2017 and had worked with Balappa on some projects, filed a police complaint on December 13.
According to her complaint, she first met Balappa in November 2023. She accused him of "mentally torturing" her to reciprocate his feelings and enter into a physical relationship. She also alleged that Balappa had issued her death threats and tried to extort money from her.
The incidents occurred between November 2023 and December 2024, she stated.
"He discovered that I lived alone and once came with his friends near my home, causing a ruckus. He threatened to defame me if I refused his demands for a physical relationship," she told the police.
The FIR also details allegations that Balappa tried to extort money from her money by threatening to leak her private photos on social media and in celebrity WhatsApp groups.
Balappa also threatened to implicate her in a false criminal case, and boasted about his connections with gangsters, politicians and senior police officers.
The RR Nagar police have registered an FIR against Balappa under BNS sections related to voluntarily causing hurt, extortion, criminal intimidation, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, physical contact and unwelcome sexual advances, and request for sexual favours.
A police officer overseeing the investigation said Balappa was arrested on Tuesday after a preliminary probe. Police believe he had lied about having the actress' private photos.