Kozhikode: The Kasaba Police have registered a case against director Ranjith based on a complaint by a youth alleging sexual harassment. The case was filed under charges of unnatural sexual offence and the IT Act. Based on this, the investigation team recently recorded the youth's statement.
In his complaint submitted to the state police chief, the man from Kozhikode alleged that Ranjith sexually abused him at a five-star hotel in Bengaluru in 2012. The complainant also shared his alleged ordeal with the media. The man has claimed that Ranjith first saw him during the shooting of Mammootty-starrer 'Bavuttiyude Namathil' in Kozhikode.
This is the first time a man has come forward with a sexual abuse complaint since a wave of Me Too allegations hit the Malayalam film industry after the Hema Commission report came out. Ranjith is one of the many leading figures in the Malayalam film industry against whom complaints of misconduct/sexual harassment have been levelled by their female colleagues. Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra had filed a complaint against Ranjith, claiming he misbehaved with her in the pretext of a movie discussion in Kochi in 2009.