First FIRs filed based on Hema panel probe
Both cases have been handed over to multiple teams of the SIT probing the sexual abuse claims and accounts mentioned in the report submitted by the Hema panel to the state government.
The Kerala police has registered two FIRs in connection with statements provided by women to the Justice Hema committee about facing sexual abuse in the Malayalam film industry, officers said.
The two FIRs, filed at Ponkunnam PS in Kottayam district and Pooyapally PS in Kollam district, are the first to be registered based on statements given to the Justice Hema-led panel after its complete unredacted report was handed over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police on the directions of the Kerala high court.
The Ponkunnam police filed the FIR last week against makeup artist Saji Koratty on the basis of a complaint filed by a Kollam-native. The case relates to the alleged sexual assault of the woman by the accused in Ponkunnam in 2014.
“He has been booked under sections 354 (assaulting woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354a (sexual harassment), 506 (criminal intimidation), 354d (stalking) and 509 (using words, gestures to outrage a woman’s modesty,” an officer at the station confirmed.
Meanwhile, the Pooyappaly police booked a case against another makeup artist named Ratheesh Ambady for sending inappropriate messages through a phone to a woman.
“A case has been booked against him under section 354 of the IPC and relevant sections of the IT Act. The incident took place last year,” the inspector said.
Both cases have been handed over to multiple teams of the SIT probing the sexual abuse claims and accounts mentioned in the report submitted by the Hema panel to the state government.
The HC had earlier directed the SIT to go through the findings of the report, contact the complainants who testified before the committee and move ahead with criminal action with their consent.
The landmark report on the working conditions of women movie professionals in Kerala, which was released on August 19, had said that women artistes and actors were routinely asked for sexual favours in exchange for opportunities, told to compromise, dealt with force exhibited by their male colleagues and threatened with bans if they attempted to sue. The committee report – originally 295 pages long – was cut short by 66 pages to redact the names and information of those who testified and others against whom allegations were made.
After the report was released, several women actors, including a Bengali actress, went public with allegations of sexual harassment against some of the well-known faces of Malayalam cinema, including director Ranjith and actors Siddique and Mukesh.
Siddique, who was booked for offences under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), has claimed in his plea that the complainant female actor had subjected him to a “prolonged campaign of harassment and false accusations since 2019”.
On August 25, the Kerala government constituted an SIT, comprising top IPS officers, to probe the claims even as Siddique and Ranjith stepped down as general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) and chairman of Kerala Chalachitra Academy, a state-run institution, respectively. Top Malayalam actor Mohanlal also quit as AMMA president and the 17-member executive committee of the influential body also resigned en masse, taking “moral responsibility”.