KOCHI: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing sexual harassment allegations in the Malayalam film industry has interrogated actor Nivin Pauly in connection with an alleged gang rape case.
The SIT team arrived in Kochi on Tuesday morning and conducted the inquiry based on a complaint lodged by a young female actor from Kothamangalam.
The woman alleged that she was gang raped in Dubai under the pretext of being offered a role in a film. According to her complaint, the assault took place on December 14 and December 15, 2023, in a hotel room.
She claimed that Shreya, a resident of Thrissur, took her to Dubai, where she was raped by Nivin Pauly and his associates. The complainant further alleged that the assailants filmed the incident on a mobile phone to blackmail her.
The complaint was lodged at the Oonnukal police station in Ernakulam, leading to a case being registered against several individuals, including Shreya, film producer A K Sunil from Thrissur, and Binu, Basheer, and Kuttan. Nivin Pauly was listed as the sixth accused in the case.
However, Nivin Pauly has denied the allegations, claiming there was a conspiracy behind the complaint. In support of Nivin's claim, director and singer Vineeth Sreenivasan presented evidence that the actor was on the set of a film directed by him in Kochi on the dates the woman alleged the assault occurred.