CHENNAI: Author-filmmaker Leena Manimekalai said on Sunday she feels “unsafe” because of continued harassment by Tamil film director Susi Ganesan. In 2018, Manimekalai accused Ganesan of sexual misconduct during the #MeToo movement.
Manimekalai shared a statement on Twitter, expressing how Ganesan tried to silence every voice that came out in her support. Actor Amala Paul, who had worked with Ganesan in his 2017 crime thriller ‘Thiruttu Payale 2’, also accused the filmmaker for “double-meaning talks, misrepresented offers and unchivalrous bodily contacts”.
Manimekalai added, “He filed a defamation case and followed it up with the gross misuse of criminal justice system to impound my passport. Then, he wrote to my Canadian University Administration and Professors to cancel my student visa status. Now he harasses journalists who cover the news and news editors who retweet my tweets (sic).”
Ganesan had lodged a defamation case under Section 500 of the IPC against Manimekalai, alleging that her social media posts had tarnished his image. Manimekalai wrote that Ganesan was targeting her.
On December 3 this year, the Madras High Court had set aside the order of the Regional Passport Authority impounding Manimekalai’s passport and instructed her travel documents be returned within a week. Justice M Dhandapani, who quashed the September 9 order, directed Manimekalai to appear before a lower court, where a defamation case was pending against her.