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Five more actors in the dock over sexual abuse in Malayalam film industry
Ernakulam North police said it has filed an FIR against director Ranjith based on a complaint by a Bengali actress.
Women actors in Kerala named at least five more male actors on Monday, as more allegations of past sexual abuse surfaced in the Malayalam movie industry’s own MeToo movement sparked by the release of the Justice Hema committee report last week.
On Sunday, the Kerala government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) composed of top IPS officers to probe such claims even as top actor Siddique and director Ranjith (both known popularly by one name only) stepped down from an actor’s body and a state-run film body respectively after being named by women.
Meanwhile, Ernakulam North police said it has filed a first information report (FIR) under the Indian Penal Code’s (IPC) Section 354 against Ranjith on the complaint of a Bengali actress. Officers said the case was filed under IPC and not the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), because the complaint concerns a 2009 allegation.
The Hema committee’s report pointed to systemic sexual harassment and abuse of women artists and technicians, the existence of an all-male power group calling the shots, and, at a basic level, the absence of toilets and changing-rooms for women on film sets.
On Monday, a female actor levelled sexual abuse allegations against four well-known actors – M Mukesh, Jayasurya, Edavela Babu and Maniyanpilla Raju – and a production controller named Noble.
Another junior female actor told the media she was subjected to sexual abuse at the hands of actor Baburaj (also popularly known by one name only), who’s also the joint secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), an influential actors’ body.
Mukesh, 67, is also a CPI(M) MLA from Kollam. “He first asked for sexual favours on the sets of the 2009 film ‘Calendar’ in exchange for membership in AMMA. When I refused his advances, he threatened me saying that I would never get AMMA membership without his approval. Two years later, during the shooting of the film ‘Nadakame Ulakam’, he confronted me again. When I ran into my hotel room, he followed me, pushed the door open and physically abused me,” said the actor.
Membership of AMMA ensures health care support, pension, aid for senior artistes, apart from networking within the fraternity.
The actress also accused 45-year-old Jayasurya of groping her and forcibly kissing her on the sets of the film ‘De Ingottu Nokkiye’ in 2008. “The shooting was happening near the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. While I was returning from the restroom, Jayasurya groped me from behind and forcibly kissed me. I told him it was wrong. He also invited me to his apartment which I refused.”
The actress accused Raju and Babu, both senior actors, of knocking on the doors of her hotel room at odd hours and asking for sexual favours in exchange for AMMA membership.
While Mukesh, Jayasurya and Babu have not responded to the allegations, Raju told reporters, “I deny the allegations against me. But I welcome any investigation into them. There are dubious interests at play here and the truth must come out.”
The comments echo those by senior actor Siddique, who resigned as the general secretary of AMMA in the wake of allegations that he raped a young actress in 2016; he sent a complaint to the state DGP claiming a hidden agenda behind the accusation. The actor, who could not be reached for a comment, claimed in the email that he was innocent and termed the charges against him as part of a ‘publicity stunt’.
Workers of the Congress and the BJP held protest marches to the residences of Mukesh in Kollam, demanding action against him and his removal from a government-appointed panel to frame policies for the film industry.
Congress MP Shafi Parambil said, “An actor who faces sexual allegations is a member of a committee that will frame policies for the film industry. Is this the government’s attitude to such a serious issue? The government is least bothered about the outcome of the Hema committee report.”
Director-screenwriter Ranjith too on Sunday stepped down as the chairman of the Kerala Chalachitra Academy, a state-run institution, in the wake of allegations that he inappropriately touched Bengali actress, Sreelekha Mitra, at a hotel in 2009 . On Monday, Mitra filed a complaint with the police in Kochi against Ranjith.
