New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the interim protection from arrest granted to Malayalam film actor Siddique in an alleged rape case. A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma extended its interim order of September 30 in which it granted him interim protection from arrest in the case and directed him to cooperate in the investigation.

The bench passed the order after senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Mr Siddique, said he had a bad throat and sought some time to argue the matter.

At the outset, Mr Rohatgi said the investigating agency is repeatedly asking the actor about his phone and laptop which he had in 2016 but does not have it now. He said Mr Siddique has met the complainant only once and the probe agency is also seeking his passport and Aadhaar number.

Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for Kerala Police, said Mr Siddique has been appearing before it but is not cooperating in the probe and giving evasive replies.

On October 22, the top court extended the interim protection from arrest for two weeks. A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma allowed Siddique to file his rejoinder affidavit to the status report filed by Kerala Police, which alleged a lack of cooperation in the investigation on his part.

Mr Siddique had earlier sought time to file a rejoinder affidavit to the status report filed by Kerala Police and claimed that he has been cooperating with the police’s investigation. Kerala Police, in its status report, alleged that the veteran actor was hindering the investigation and had destroyed electronic devices besides deleting social media accounts. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bengaluru:

Malayalam director Ranjith Balakrishnan has been booked for sexual assault – based on a complaint filed last week in Bengaluru by a 31-year-old male actor – as the #MeToo wave continues to sweep the Kerala film industry after the release of the Justice K Hema Committee report was released.

The actor alleged he was sexually assaulted by the filmmaker at a five-star hotel in the city.

He said he first met Ranjith in Kozhikode (Calicut) when the director was shooting the Mammootty-starrer ‘Bavuttiyude Namathil’. The male actor has claimed Ranjith invited him to the hotel near Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport in December 2012 – on the pretext of an audition – and then sexually assaulted him; the filmmaker allegedly forced the man to strip in exchange for a prominent role in his movie. The man said he thought stripping was part of the audition.

READ | Actor Details Sex Assault In Ranjith #MeToo Case, Thought It Was Audition

A three-time National Film Awards winner, Ranjith, 60, has also been accused of sexual assault by a Bengali actress who filed a complaint with the Kochi Police Commissioner. Kochi police have registered a case based on her complaint, which alleges she was assaulted in a city hotel.

Ranjith has denied the allegation, explaining he had called the actress – Sreelekha Mitra – for an audition for the movie ‘Paleri Manikyam’ but sent her back after deciding she was not suitable.

In her complaint – sent via email – Ms Mitra alleged Ranjith touched her inappropriately, with sexual intent, after inviting her to act in the movie. This was in 2009.

Ranjith, who was then the Chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, quit after tremendous pressure on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his government by the opposition.

Congress leader VD Satheeshan, also the Leader of the Opposition, and the BJP’s state boss, K Surendran, had both demanded Ranjith’s resignation from the academy.

Rape and assault allegations against senior Malayalam actors and film directors have been pouring in since the Justice Hema Committee report was released in August. Multiple cases have been filed against top actors, including Mukesh, who is also a lawmaker with the ruling CPIM.

READ | Kerala MLA Mukesh Arrested In Malayalam MeToo Row, To Be Freed

Mukesh was arrested late last month; he had, however, secured anticipatory bail. He has been charged with offences including the use of force against women with intent to outrage her modesty.

A day later another top Malayalam film industry figure, Edavela Babu – actor and former General Secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes, or AMMA – was arrested in a rape case.

READ | Malayalam Actor Edavela Babu Arrested In Rape Case

The uproar over these and other cases led to the dissolution of the AMMA Executive Committee that was led by top actor Mohanlal, who said the panel was taking “moral responsibility” and had dissolved itself “in light of allegations made by some actors against some of the committee”.

READ | Mohanlal Quits As Malayalam Film Body Chief Amid #MeToo Storm

The flood of sexual assault and rape allegations also found echoes in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, after popular actor Sowmya accused a Tamil director of horrific mental, physical, and sexual assault.

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Chennai:

The flood of sexual assault and rape allegations roiling the Malayalam film industry has found echoes in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, after popular actor Sowmya accused a Tamil director of horrific mental, physical, and sexual assault – including the insertion of a rod into her genitals as “entertainment”.

In an emotional but powerful interview with NDTV she spoke about being “groomed as a sex slave” by the director, whose identity she has chosen to withhold at this time. Sowmya said the man – who approached her, she said, with his wife and when she was 18 years old – inflicted mental torture by claiming her as his “daughter” and declaring he wanted a child with her.

She said she would reveal the man’s identity to the special police team formed by the Kerala government, which is investigating multiple cases of alleged sexual assault in Mollywood.

“I was 18 and in my first year of college… I came from a very sheltered background and my parents knew nothing about movies. This opportunity (to act in a Tamil film) came through my college theatre contact. As a child I was enamoured by the actor Revathy, who lived near my house at that time…I was in a fantasy world. So I went for a screen test with this couple…”

“I was a child, I didn’t know much,” Sowmya told NDTV.

She indicated her family had been arm-twisted into allowing her to act, saying the director told her father they had spent large amounts of money on her screen test. This was after Sowmya’s red flags; “… I said I wasn’t comfortable with the man. I said this at my first meeting.”

However, Sowmya told NDTV she felt “obligated” to act in that movie.

“During the first outdoor shoots he didn’t speak to me. The agreement was that his wife would be the director but that was on paper… in reality he was directing the whole movie.”

“And so I was under his control… and he gave me the ‘angry silent treatment’ like a lot of men are used to doing. And because of our conditioning in patriarchy… about authority figures, particularly intimidating men who express anger very easily, I was very scared,” she said.

Sowmya, fighting to keep her emotions in check, then outlined how she was “groomed” by the man who claimed her as his daughter, and whose own daughter had left, accusing him of rape.

“… but they told me she (the couple’s daughter) was lying. So they brought me into their home… I was a teenager who was rebellious at home and suddenly this couple was nice to me, bribing me with good food and milkshakes, and telling me good things. That was the grooming process… he knew fully well what he was doing,” she said firmly.

And then, Sowmya told NDTV, the sexual assault and rape took place.

“One fine day, when his wife wasn’t around, this man, while calling me his daughter, kissed me. I completely froze. I was so desperate to tell my friends but couldn’t… I was ashamed, thinking I had done something wrong and that I was obligated to be nice to this man…”

“So I continued going for practice, for dance rehearsals… every day I went back and gradually, step by step, this man completely used my body to his advantage. At some point he forced himself on me… so he raped me. This went on for close to a year while I was in college.”

During this time Sowmya said the man repeatedly called her his “daughter” and also that he wanted a child with her. “He messed with my brain…” she said, the anger palpable. “It took 30 years for me to heal and recover from this sense of ‘shame’… I encourage survivors to report all such abuse.”

READ | Mukesh Need Not Resign As MLA Amid #MeToo Claims: Kerala’s CPIM

Rape and assault allegations against senior Malayalam actors and film directors have been pouring in since the Justice Hema Committee report was released last month. Multiple cases have been filed against top actors, including Mukesh, who is also an MLA with the ruling CPIM.

READ | “I Have 2 Daughters. We Need…”: Tamil Film Director On Kerala MeToo Row

Earlier this week the Tamil film industry finally broke its silence on this subject, with Venkat Prabhu, a director, told NDTV it is time for it to address the allegations head-on. He emphasised the need for a safer working environment for women in the industry. “I have two daughters…” he said.

READ | “Will Talk To Sonia Gandhi”: Expelled Kerala Leader On Casting Couch Claim

Similar allegations have also been made by an expelled Congress leader – Simi Rose Bell John, who has said she will approach Sonia Gandhi – against her former party, adding to the political row as the opposition outfit and the BJP target Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s administration.

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New Delhi:
Police in Kerala’s Maradu have filed a rape case against actor and ruling CPIM MLA M Mukesh based on a complaint by fellow actor Minu Muneer, who has also accused actor Jayasurya of sexual harassment. The charges in each case are non-bailable.

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