More sexual harassment allegations continue to rock Mollywood; Bengali actor files petition against filmmaker Ranjith

Thiruvananthapuram: A police case was registered against national award-winning filmmaker Ranjith on the basis of a sexual assualt complaint filed by Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra.

Mitra on Monday mailed a petition to Kochi city police commissioner accusing Ranjith of sexual assault around 14 years back in Kochi. Based on that, a case was registered under IPC 354 for use of criminal force or assault against a woman with the intention of outraging her modesty, said city police commissioner S Syamsundar.

The police is likely to refer the matter to the special investigation team formed on Sunday to probe into the allegations.

Meanwhile, the Justice Hema committee report on the sexual assault and discrimination faced by women in the Malayalam film industry has literally opened a pandora's box with over half a dozen women actors already raising allegations against well-known personalities in the field.

On Monday, fresh allegations have come up against many more, including actor turned CPM MLA M Mukesh, well-known actor Jayasurya, senior actor 'Maniyanpilla' Raju, filmmaker Thulasidas, and actors 'Idavela' Babu and Baburaj.

Most of the allegations pertained to incidents that took place several years back. The row triggered by the Hema committee report is prompting the women to open up.

The CPM government is on the defensive over the allegations against Mukesh. He was even included in a committee recently formed to frame a policy for the Malayalam film industry. Casting director Tess Joseph and actor Minu Muneer also raised sexual harassment allegations against Mukesh. The Congress and BJP launched demonstrations demanding Mukesh's resignation. 

Muneer also raised sexual harassment allegations against Jayasurya, 'Idavela' Babu and 'Maniyanpilla' Raju, while actor Geetha Vijayan alleged that filmmaker Thulasidas tried to sexually assault her in 1991. A junior artist raised sexual assault allegations against actor Baburaj, who is also the joint secretary of Association of Malayalam Movies Artists (AMMA).

All those facing the music have denied the charges and have expressed suspicions over the intentions of raising 'baseless' allegations. Most of the women who raised the allegations stated that they were willing to depose before the special investigation team.

On Sunday, Ranjith stepped down from the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy chairman post in view of the Bengali actor's allegation. Actor Siddique had to quit the AMMA general secretary post after actor Revathy Sampath raised sexual harassment allegations against him. In response, Siddique, on Monday, filed a police petition accusing Sampath of raising baseless allegations.

The Malayalam film industry is shaken up by the series of sexual assault allegations that have come up in the last few days. The chances of more women coming out against known actors are also not being ruled out by film industry sources. Though a meeting of AMMA leadership was scheduled to be held on Tuesday, it was reportedly postponed.