Kottayam: Ponkunnam police have registered a case against professional makeup artist Saji Koratty on charges of sexual assault against a woman. The case has been registered based on the statement given by the woman to the Hema committee.

The special investigation team constituted by the state government to probe allegations of sexual abuse in the Malayalam film industry recently received an uncensored Hema committee report following the order of the High Court. The SIT has started investigating statements related to sexual abuse, which have been recorded in the Hema committee report.

The woman, a Kollam resident, gave her statement as part of the probe to Kollam police. This was forwarded to Ponkunnam station and a case has been registered. The case will be handed over to the SIT for further investigation. " We have registered a case against Saji Koratty for sexual assault. The incident happened in 2014 at Ponkunnam," said Dileesh T, Ponkunnam SHO.

Saji has been slapped with charges under sections 354 IPC ( offence of assaulting a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty), 354A ( sexual harassment), 354D ( stalking), 506 ( criminal intimidation) and 509 ( acts, words or gestures intended to insult a woman's modesty).