Hema Commission report published after 5-year waiting period

Thiruvanthapuram: The Kerala government on Monday released the controversial Hema committee report after a five-year wait. The abridged version of the 233-page report was released shortly after 2.30 pm on Monday.

The decision to publish the report came after a single court rejected actor Ranjini's request to stay the report's publication pending the case's examination. A bench of the Kerala High Court had on Monday rejected the senior actor's request to review the report before its publication on technical grounds. The Hema Committee, which looked into the pressing issue of women in the Malaysian film industry, was chaired by retired Kerala High Court judge Justice K Hema. Members included veteran actor Sharada and retired IAS officer KB Valsala Kumari.

The Hema Committee was formed after the actress Dileep assault case in 2017 to look into issues of sexual harassment and gender inequality in Malayalam cinema. Though the report was submitted in 2019, the government is yet to release the details as it is suspected to contain confidential information.

The actress and survivor, who has acted in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, was allegedly kidnapped and abused in her car for two hours by some of the accused who forcibly entered the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017. The entire act was filmed by some of the accused to blackmail the actress. There are ten accused in the case. Dileep, the eighth accused in the case, was also arrested and sent to jail. He was released after the court granted him bail. The case is still pending.