Hema Committee Report: After Siddique, Ranjith seeks anticipatory bail in sexual harassment case

Ranjith

The Kerala police has filed a case against filmmaker Ranjith for sexual harassment. On Tuesday, he approached the Kerala High Court with an anticipatory bail plea in connection with the case

Trouble began for Ranjith days after the publication of the Justice Hema committee report, which deals with issues of rampant sexual exploitation faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.

After the allegations against him by Bengali actress Sreelekha Mitra, Ranjith had stepped down as the chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy. She had alleged that in 2009 she was called to a flat for an audition in Kochi where Ranjith "misbehaved" with her. The case against him was registered at the Ernakulam Town Police Station based on an email complaint made by the actress.

However, Ranjith, in his bail plea, dismissed all the allegations against him and said he was being "implicated" after 15 years. He alleged that a section of people in the Academy has been scheming against him to remove him from the post.

Second case against Ranjith:

An aspiring male actor also accused the filmmaker of inappropriate behaviour. An FIR under sections 377 of the IPC and section 66 E of the Information Technology Act was lodged against the director on Friday night at the Kasaba police station, a senior police officer of the district said. The complainant actor has alleged that the director called him to a hotel in Bengaluru in 2012, asked him to strip and took his nude photos. The complainant also claimed, before TV channels, that the photos were sent to a well known veteran female actor who has denied the allegation.

The Hema Committee report aftermath:

The Hema Committee's report revealed that women in the film industry face numerous issues, including, sexual demands, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, lack of safety in the workplace, insufficient basic facilities and wage disparities.

As of now, FIRs have been registered against nine film personalities, which include Mukesh, Siddique, Jayasurya, Edavela Babu, Maniyan Pillai Raju, directors Ranjith, V. K. Prakash, production executives Vichu and Noble after women actresses registered complaints.

Of those who have been named as "exploiters" by victims, Mukesh got interim relief from arrest till Wednesday, even as his petition is being heard in a lower court here, on Tuesday.

The Vijayan government has appointed a seven-member police probe team comprising four women IPS officials who are taking statements from the victims.

So far, none of the "exploiters" have been summoned to appear before the probe team.

The BJP and the Congress alleged that the Vijayan government is hand-in-glove with the wrongdoers, even while claiming to be with the victims.