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Malayalam actor Baburaj accused of sexually abusing junior artiste: Report
A junior artiste has leveled sexual assault allegations against actor-producer Baburaj, in the wake of the Hema Committee report on south film industry.
In the backdrop of the Hema Committee report on Malayam film industry, popular actor-producer Baburaj has been accused of sexual abuse by a junior artiste, reported Mathrubhumi. According to the report, the junior artiste accused the Joint Secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) of sexually abusing her inside his residence in Kerala.
However, Baburaj denied these allegations and said he had anticipated such claims after the Hema Committee report.
The woman alleged that Baburaj called her to his house in Aluva in 2019, promising to cast her in a movie. She was told that the director and screenwriter of the movie will also be present during the visit, the report added.
The junior artiste claimed that when she reached the house, she found herself alone with Baburaj, who then asked her to rest in a room and wait for others to join. After some time, the Malayam actor entered the room and started sexually abusing her, she alleged.
“He gave me a room to rest and told me that the filmmakers would come shortly. However, after a while, he knocked at the door and then started physically abusing me,” the woman said.
Read more: ‘Mohanlal has lost his ability to respond’: Malayalam actor Shammy Thilakan amid sexual misconduct allegations
She said that after this incident, she ran out of the house and never met Baburaj again. She claimed that the actor continued to send inappropriate messages to her over WhatsApp but she never responded.
The women suggested, as per the report, that Baburaj has harassed other women as well but they were too scared to speak for themselves. She further said that some men contacted her for a role in a movie starring Malayalam actor Shine Tom Chacko. She alleged that Chacko told to men to arrange a meeting with her, in another plot to take advantage of women in the industry.
This comes as the Hema Committee report on the Malayalam film industry motivated many women to come forward about facing sexual abuse and harassment at the hands of powerful men in the industry. Actor Minu Muneer on Monday wrote a detailed Facebook post, alleging that Mukesh, Maniyanpilla Raju, Idavela Babu and Jayasurya sexually abused her in 2013.
