Sexual abuse in Mollywood claims more names with Jayasurya, Maniyanpilla Raju among many others
KOCHI: The tsunami that hit the Malayalam film industry after the release of the Hema Committee report continued to wreak havoc with big names such as filmmaker V K Prakash, actor-producer Maniyanpilla Raju and actors Jayasurya, Edavela Babu coming under the sexual harassment allegations on Monday.
A day after filmmaker Ranjith and actor Siddique resigned as Kerala Chalachitra Academy chairman and AMMA general secretary posts following sexual harassment charges, senior actor Geetha Vijayan, artist Minu Muneer and a junior artist went public to narrate the traumatic experiences they encountered from stars like Jayasurya, Edavela Babu, to actor-producers Maniyanpilla Raju, Baburaj as well as filmmakers Thulasidas and V K Prakash.
Perhaps one of the big names to figure in the sexual harassment allegation on Monday was Jayasurya. Minu Muneer, who acted in a slew of Malayalam movies in the 2010s, said the actor hugged and kissed her forcefully in the sets of a 2013 movie. "Without my consent, hugged me from behind and when I turned around, he kissed me on my lips. I was frightened and ran away," she said.
In her Facebook post, Mini also made allegations against a series of incidents of physical and verbal abuse she had to suffer from actors Mukesh, Edavela Babu, Maniyanpilla Raju, and Jayasurya, as well as other technicians.
"In 2013, I was subjected to physical and verbal abuse by these people while working on a project. I tried to cooperate and continue working. However, when the abuse became unbearable, I was forced to leave the Malayalam film industry and relocate to Chennai. I am now seeking justice and accountability for the trauma and suffering I endured. I request your assistance in taking action against their heinous actions," she wrote in the post.
Meanwhile, the Kochi city police registered a case against Ranjith after Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra filed a sexual harassment complaint against the former Chalachitra Academy chairman.
Earlier in the day, Geetha told reporters that director Thulasidas behaved inappropriately with her during the shoot of his film 'Chanchattam' in 1991. "However, I reacted and stood up for myself. He has misbehaved with other women as well," she said.
A junior artist, who wished to protect her identity, came out against Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) joint general secretary Baburaj alleging that he attempted to rape her in 2019.
"He offered me a role in his upcoming film and deceived me by on the pretext that the director of the film was at his house. However, there were no one when I reached there, and he attempted to rape me," she shared, pointing out that Baburaj was set to become the new AMMA general secretary at the time. "Legal action should be initiated against him," she stressed.
Responding to the allegation, Baburaj told the media that there's conspiracy behind the allegations as he was going to be the general secretary, and the truth on these allegations will come out in a few days.
Meanwhile, a young writer from Kochi too came out alleging that director V K Prakash sexually assaulted her. "I went to tell a story. However, he offered me a role in his film and gave me a scene to act which was vulgar and intimate. I was uncomfortable. As I felt he is not interested in the story, I didn't complete narrating too," said the writer, adding that she left the place at night after denying the offer he made.
