#MeToo in Mollywood

Offence bailable, Kerala HC dismisses Ranjith's anticipatory bail plea

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday dismissed director Ranjith Balakrishnan's anticipatory bail plea after the police said it was mulling treating the offence he allegedly committed in 2009 as bailable.

Ranjith was booked under section 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) following a complaint by a Bengali woman actor. The actor, in her complaint, alleged that the director had touched her inappropriately with sexual intent after inviting her to act in the movie Paleri Manikyam in 2009.

On Wednesday, the prosecution told the court that the offence against Ranjith was bailable in 2009. “The probe team were also considering treating the case as such,” said Ranjith’s lawyer. Recording the prosecution's statement, the court closed the case, the lawyer said.

The 60-year-old director, the first one to be booked for a sexual offence in the days after the Hema Committee report was made public, had claimed in his plea that the case against him was the result of the "disappointment and resentment of the complainant at not being chosen to act in the movie being re-ignited by certain vested interests" who wanted him to be removed from the chairmanship of the Kerala State Film Academy.

"In the facts and circumstances of the case, the allegations raised and especially, in the backdrop of the fact that the alleged incident had taken place 15 years back, the custodial interrogation of the applicant is not at all warranted. "The applicant is not a flight risk and undertakes to cooperate with the investigation. It is further submitted that the court can impose sufficient conditions for the proper investigation," he had said in his plea.

Recently, a second case was registered against the director under section 377 (unnatural offence) of the IPC and section 66 E (punishment for violation of privacy) of the Information Technology (IT) Act. The second case was on the complaint by a male actor who alleged that the director called him to a hotel in Bengaluru in 2012, asked him to strip and took his nude photos. The complainant also claimed, before TV channels, that the photos were sent to a well-known veteran female actor who has denied the allegation.

Multiple FIRs have been registered against many high-profile Malayalam film personalities following allegations of sexual harassment against various directors and actors in the wake of revelations in the Justice K Hema Committee report. The committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case and its report revealing instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry.

Following the allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation cropping up against several actors and directors, the state government on August 25 announced the establishment of a seven-member special investigation team to probe them.
(With PTI inputs)