Team News Riveting
Kochi, August 28
The Kerala police on Wednesday lodged a rape case against leading Malayalam actor Sidhique even as mollywood crisis took a sensational twist.
The action against the actor came following a female actor’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her in 2016. An FIR under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) has been registered against the actor at Museum police station, a senior police officer said. The case was registered under the IPC as the offence allegedly occurred in 2016.
This is the second FIR against a high-profile film personality following the allegations of sexual harassment against various directors and actors in the wake of revelations in the Justice Hema Committee report.
The first case, under IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty), was against director Ranjith on a complaint by a female actor from West Bengal regarding an incident which occurred in 2009. It was lodged on Monday.
She had alleged that the director had touched her inappropriately with sexual intent after inviting her to act in the movie Paleri Manikyam in 2009. Following the allegation by the actor, Ranjith had resigned from his post as chairman of Kerala Chalachitra Academy.
Sidhique had also resigned from his post as general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) following the allegations against him.
The Justice Hema Committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case and its report revealing instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry.
Amidst allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation cropping up against several actors and directors, the state government on August 25 announced the establishment of a seven-member special investigation team to probe them.
Subsequently, more complaints surfaced.
The Hema Committee’s revelations and the storm of sexual harassment allegations it has unleashed, starting with Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra, have now scalped Malayalam filmdom’s topmost industry body, headed by one of its biggest names.
Superstar actor Mohanlal on Tuesday stepped down as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) and dissolved its executive committee in the light of the recent allegations of rape and sexual harassment against some of the panel members.
A day after accusing Mukesh, Jayasurya, Raju and Babu, two production controllers and a lawyer named Chandrashekaran, an actor filed a complaint on Tuesday. She told reporters that a woman officer who is part of the SIT had spoken to her after she made the allegations.
