AMMA OF ALL MUCK

Siddique refuses to respond to sexual assault allegations; AMMA to hold executive meeting on Tuesday

Kochi: Senior Malayalam actor Siddique, who was forced to step down as the general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), has refused to respond to junior artist Revathy Sampath's sexual assault allegations against him. When Manorama News contacted Siddique, he said that he is not in a mental state to respond to the matter. According to reports, Siddique is currently staying at a hotel in Ooty in connection with the shooting of Dileep's upcoming movie.

The actor is likely to return to Kochi on Monday. AMMA, which landed in a spot over the allegations against Siddique, has summoned its executive meeting on Tuesday. A total of 17 members are on the executive committee of the 506-member association. It is rumored that Siddique will reach Kochi on Monday ahead of the meeting.

All eyes are on AMMA's stance on the sexual assault allegations against Siddique as Revathy Sampath demanded that the actor be banned from the film industry. Revathy had raised the sexual assault allegations against Siddique during the me too movement in 2019. Now, she came forward again with the allegations against the senior actor following the release of the Hema Committee report that revealed crimes against women in Malayalam film industry. When the Hema Committee report triggered heated debates on women's safety in the film industry, Siddique, who was the general secretary of AMMA, summoned a press conference and rubbished the findings of the committee. However, senior actors like Jagadish and Urvashi upheld the findings and demanded a thorough probe into the sexual harassment allegations. Apart from them, executive committee members Ansiba Hassan and Shweta Menon also sought action from the association. Following this, the association's stance on the Hema Committee report was widely criticized.

Siddique resigned from the post of AMMA general secretary a day after Revathy Sampath reiterated her sexual assault allegations against him. On Saturday, Sampath alleged that Siddique sexually assaulted her in a hotel room in 2016 after the preview show of the senior actor's movie.

"Since there were allegations against me, I have decided not to continue in the post and resigned," Siddique wrote in his resignation letter to AMMA president Mohanlal.

Jayan Cherthala, the vice president of AMMA, said it was not appropriate for Siddique to continue in the position even after such serious allegations cropped up against him. Actor Anoop Chandran said he had sent an email to Mohanlal on Sunday morning detailing the need for Siddique's resignation.

"The continuation of a person facing serious allegations in the post is actually an insult to the entire organization. So I said in the email that if Siddique was not ready to step down on his own, the executive committee should be prepared to oust him," Chandran told the media.

Actress Mala Parvathy said Siddique's decision to resign was "morally and ethically correct."

"The actor's resignation is inevitable... it is an appropriate decision. If that victim showed the courage to come in front of society and detailed the trauma she underwent, we should understand the intensity of the pain and humiliation she had suffered," she said.
(With PTI inputs)