Case against Beena Antony, Manoj, Swasika for 'insulting modesty of woman' on YouTube channel

Kochi: Nedumbassery police have filed a case against actors Beena Antony, Manoj, and Swasika on charges of insulting a woman's modesty. The police registered the case following a complaint by an artist from Aluva who said that they 'insulted the modesty of a woman' through a YouTube channel. The police have named Beena Antony as the first accused, Manoj as the second, and Swasika as the third.

They were booked under Section 79 of the BNS, which pertains to a word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman, and Section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act, which relates to causing nuisance to a person through any means of communication.

The case will now be handed over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), responsible for probing the sexual assault complaints raised by several women in the Malayalam film industry, a police officer told Onmanorama.

In her complaint, the actor claimed that the trio attempted to humiliate her on the YouTube channel in retaliation for a complaint she had previously lodged against prominent actors. The charges filed against them are bailable.

Following the release of the Hema Committee report, the complainant had raised allegations against actors Edavela Babu, Mukesh, Maniyanpilla Raju, Jayasurya, Jaffer Idukki, and actor-director Balachandra Menon. The police had registered a case based on her complaints against these actors. After this, Beena Antony, Manoj, and Swasika allegedly responded to her through social media platforms, including YouTube.

Meanwhile, a relative has filed a POCSO case against the complainant. Additionally, Balachandra Menon lodged a police complaint accusing the actor of blackmailing him over the phone and insulting him on YouTube.