A senior actor has resigned from the internal complaints committee of Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), protesting the lack of disciplinary action from the powerful industry body against a producer-actor booked for alleged rape.
Mala Parvathi quit from the committee that is a redressal forum for women who face sexual harassment in the film industry. Her resignation came a day after AMMA declined to heed the committee’s recommendation to remove Vijay Babu, the accused who is absconding, from the executive committee of the body.
The AMMA had on Sunday issued an official statement about Babu’s letter stating he was staying away from the executive committee in light of the charges levelled against him. But Parvathi drew a clear distinction between the accused voluntarily staying away and the film body removing him.
“They say Vijay Babu has voluntarily decided to stay away from the executive committee. But that is not a disciplinary action and hence I feel they are not sending the right message to the survivor,” Parvathi told reporters on Monday underlining the reason for her resignation.
Parvathi said she wouldn’t have resigned had the AMMA clearly stated they had taken action against Babu. “I can’t approve the executive body’s decision (not to take disciplinary action). I am told that Shwetha Menon and Kuku Parameshwaran would also resign from the complaints committee protesting the decision of AMMA,” said Parvathi.
The complaints committee was constituted in March this year following a Kerala High Court judgement. While Menon is the presiding officer, Parvathi, Parameshwaran and Rachana Narayanankutty are the members.
The producer has been booked for rape based on the complaint of a budding actor who starred in his film released last year. She had accused him of rape on multiple occasions in hotel rooms and physical violence even when she was in her period. He was also booked for disclosing the survivor’s name in a Facebook live video where he denied all charges.
Police have since informed that he left for Dubai via Bangalore on Sunday, a day after the actor lodged her complaint.
Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), a body that came into being after the 2017 kidnap and rape of a popular actor, on Monday reiterated its demand to release the findings of Justice Hema Committee that studied sexual harassment in Malayalam film industry.
The committee that was constituted following the kidnap and rape of the actor, in which senior actor Dileep is an accused for allegedly plotting the crime, had submitted its report in December 2019. But the state government has refused to release it citing the committee’s advice since it contains personal experiences of some film personalities.
The WCC on Monday released a copy of its letter submitted in January to state revenue minister P. Rajeev seeking the release of the committee’s findings. “When we observed that in spite of so much money, time and effort spent on the report, there was no action, WCC approached various government agencies. We raised our voices and concerns regarding the silence from the side of the government. It is not enough to produce recommendations without the context of the findings.”
The WCC suggested that names and other details of survivors be removed from the report before releasing it, apparently in response to the government’s contention that it cannot release the report since it contained personal experiences. “The case studies (removing the names and other details of the survivors) which have led to these recommendations must be known. Setting up committees and discussions on the recommendations is not enough.”
The WCC informed that it would take part in the meeting called by the minister of culture Saji Cherian on May 4 to discuss the issues concerning women in the industry.