KOCHI: Protest and anger simmered at the Durbar Hall ground on Sunday. The leading lights of the Malayalam film industry got together in support of the actor who was molested by a gang in a moving car on Friday night. The meeting, summoned by Mammootty, was in fact transformed into a show of unity as top names from political sphere too came out in support of the actor. Mammotty’s words reflected the prevailing mood.
“A real man is someone who protects a woman. One can go to any extend to protect her honour and law will favour him. We are here to express support to the victim. We pray that our mothers give birth to men who can respect and honour women,” he said. He exhorted the crowd to take a pledge to protect and honour women. Director-actor Lal, who broke down while talking about the incident, said such an incident was unprecedented in the industry. “When she came running to my house, we were shocked. We contacted DGP Loknath Behera who send all the top officials in time.
The efforts put in by the police is exemplary,” he said. However, he lashed out at certain sections of the media for spreading baseless stories. “She withstood the harrowing incident with courage. More than the incident, the vile reports doing the rounds shattered her. Our responsibility should be to stay by her side,” he said. Manju Warrier, a close friend of the victim, expressed her anger and sadness. Script writer-turned-actor Ranji Panicker hit out against the “whatsapp culture where people wait for the next clip to land on their accounts.”
“No amount of security measures will curb such activities unless we become civilised. Shun the voyeuristic tendencies and be responsible citizens,” he said. The meeting was also attended by actor/MP Innocent, Dileep, Jayasurya, Geethu Mohandas, director Joshi etc. From the political camp, MLAs Hibi Eden, P T Thomas, CPM Ernakulam district secretary P Rajeeve and BJP state general secretary A N Radhakrishnan were present.