Thiruvananthapuram: The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), in a letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday, said that the victims who had opened up before the Hema Committee were being subjected to an unscrupulous media witch-hunt ever since the statements they had given before the panel in confidence were brought within the scope of the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
It was on September 10 that the High Court had directed the Kerala government to hand over the entire report of the Hema Committee to the SIT -- until then it was a redacted report that was released. The SIT was then told by the court to scan the entire report and initiate legal action if any offence, cognisable or otherwise, has been made out. The panel was set up by the government to analyse the issues faced by women in the Malayalam cinema industry.
"These highly confidential statements that the Hema Committee and the court and the government had decided not to publish in the interests of the privacy of the victims are now being released through a news channel. Such a situation throws a cloud of suspicion over the motives of at least some who are in possession of the report," the WCC said in the letter. The collective also said that it was to flag precisely such a concern that its members had met the CM the other day.
"The information leaks are planned in such a way that it is easy to recognise the victims who had made these statements. This is causing immense mental strain for the victims and had put their lives in jeopardy," the WCC said.
The collective said that such an "unprincipled onslaught on privacy is unjust" and urged the CM to urgently intervene to set things right.
So far, 23 cases have been registered against prominent figures in the Malayalam film industry based on allegations of sexual assault by their women colleagues in the wake of the Hema Committee report, released to public on August 19, 2024.
Those charged include director Ranjith, actors Siddique, Jayasurya, Maniyanpilla Raju, Edavela Babu, and Baburaj.
The Kerala government constituted the Hema Committee in 2019 to analyse the issues faced by women in the Malayalam cinema industry following a petition by the Women in Cinema Collective in response to the 2017 actor assault case. Chaired by retired Justice K Hema, the panel also included veteran actress Sarada and retired IAS officer K B Valsala Kumari as its members.