Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has handed over the complete Hema Committee report detailing the issues including sexual assault and gender inequality faced by women in the Malayalam film industry to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in charge of the probe into the sexual assault complaints raised by several woman employees in the industry.
This action follows a directive in this regard from the Kerala High Court. The report was handed over to the Crime Branch Chief H. Venkatesh. The SIT is slated to hold a meeting to discuss the report at the State Police headquarters on Thursday.
It is indicated that the government will follow up on the report with stringent provisions to ensure the privacy and safety of individuals who provided statements. Members of the Women in Cinema Collective, who met with the Chief Minister yesterday, also stressed their concerns about the privacy and safety of the deponents who appeared before the Hema Committee. When the case comes up for a hearing next time, the state government is expected to highlight this issue, while also proposing new regulations to improve safety for women in the film industry.
The government will also clarify the objectives behind holding the cinema conclave while initiating measures cautiously after due home-work, as the long-withheld Hema Committee report now risks broader circulation.
The report, which had been kept under wraps by the Department of Cultural Affairs, underwent significant revisions before being presented to the High Court and then submitted to the SIT. The National Commission for Women is also expected to request the report.
The report’s release, which has rocked the Malayalam film industry, followed an order by the State Information Commission (SIC) to make the document public after redacting sensitive personal information. The publicly available version is heavily redacted to protect the privacy of those who testified and to safeguard the identities of the alleged perpetrators.
