Actress Ritabhari Chakraborty meets Mamata Banerjee, pushes for Hema Committee-like panel in Bengali film industry
Ritabhari Chakraborty said such a measure would be the first step to dismantle the system of ‘exploitation’.
Bengali actress Ritabhari Chakraborty met West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday to demand the formation of a state-level committee on the lines of Justice Hema Committee in Kerala to investigate allegations of sexual abuse within the Bengali film industry, news agency PTI reported.
Chakraborty has been demanding the formation of such a committee in West Bengal ever since the Hema Committee report revealed widespread sexual abuse in the Malayalam film industry.
Also read | Sexual harassment in Malayalam film industry: 6 shocking findings by Hema Committee
“The reports of abuse are all too familiar to me and others I know. We have a responsibility to protect young actresses who enter the industry with dreams, only to face exploitation,” she noted on the concerns of aspiring actresses.
In discussions with the chief minister, she proposed the creation of “an unbiased committee consisting of five members", headed by a retired justice. She also proposed the inclusion of women from various professions such as doctors and lawyers. The aim of this proposed committee, she added, would be to investigate allegations of sexual harassment and produce a comprehensive report.
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Posting on Instagram, the actress said the chief minister listened to her on all issues affecting women in the Bengali film industry. "Yesterday, chief minister @mamata official responded to our request of creating a similar body like Hema Committee. My request for the body to not have any political name or film personalities was heard," she said in another post.
The actress claimed that her move was a step to “cleanse” the industry from "predators". While expressing optimism, she also emphasised the need for patience on these issues. “Investigations take time, but we are hopeful for a resolution”, she added.
Chakraborty clarified that she is not representing any political party on the issue, and she is standing only on behalf of women working in the industry.
The actress had been questioning why similar measures on the lines of Hema committee had not been adopted in Bengali cinema. She had described that such a committee would be “the first step towards dismantling the system of exploitation”.