Malayalam sex scandal: Ten Mollywood stars accused of sexual harassment

The findings of the Hema Committee report were nothing short of inflammatory and seemed to have opened a Pandora's box. The report, which brought to light rampant sexual exploitation in the Malayalam film industry, seems to have sparked the #MeToo movement 2.0. So far, around 10 prominent actors of Mollywood have been implicated in the case. Read on to know more about the suspects.

Jayasurya

Actress Minu Muneer filed a complaint on August 28 against many established actors of the Malayalam film industry, including Mukesh, Jayasurya and Edavela Babu, invoking Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which relates to assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty. Actor Jayasurya was implicated in the FIR along with several others. The actor has vehemently denied all the allegations made against him and stated that the accusations have caused considerable distress to both him and his family. Jayasurya, who is currently living in the United States, stressed that he will take legal action while his lawyers will sort out the situation until his return.

“Due to my personal commitments, my family and I have been in America for the past month and during this time, two false allegations of sexual harassment were made against me. Naturally, this has shocked me, my family and everyone close to me. I have decided to take this forward legally,” Jayasurya wrote in a note on his Facebook page, “he wrote in September.

Hariharan

The experienced director was accused of actress Charmila making inappropriate advances towards him. Mathrubhumi News, Charmila said the director made unreasonable demands for “adjustments” – a euphemism in the industry for sexual favours. She recalls being removed from a film after refusing to comply with these demands. Specifically, Charmila accused MP Mohan, the producer of Arjunan Pillayum Anchu Makkalum, to orchestrate their exclusion.

Charmila further claims that during the casting of Parinayam, Hariharan asked the actor and her boyfriend Vishnu if she would agree to these “adjustments”. When Vishnu told him that she did not agree, both he and Charmila were dropped from the project.

Ranjith

Director and actor Ranjith was accused of sexual misconduct by an aspiring male actor. The young man filed a complaint with the DGP, alleging that Ranjith summoned him to a hotel room in Bengaluru in 2012 and subjected him to unnatural acts. Meanwhile, a junior artist accused Babu of demanding sexual favours when she aspired to join the actors' association AMMA, and alleged that other parties involved treated her in a manner that degraded her dignity as a woman.

Ranjith was previously accused by Bengali actress Sreelekha Mitra of misbehaving in a hotel in Kochi during the shooting of Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha. Babu had earlier been booked by the Ernakulam North police following a complaint that he had harassed someone on the pretext of offering him AMMA membership.

Siddique

The veteran actor was accused of sexual assault by an aspiring actress. On Facebook, the actress claimed that he lured and assaulted her in 2016 under the pretext of discussing a project. “I was a young newbie in the industry at the time. He invited me to a hotel under the pretext of discussing a film project. There was no such film. It was a trap. He sexually abused and raped me. He also physically assaulted me. I had to give up my dreams and my time and went through a lot of psychological trauma.”

Following this allegation, Siddique resigned from his post as General Secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).

M Mukesh

On Thursday, Kerala Police registered a rape case against actor and CPI(M) MP M Mukesh after actress Minu Muneer filed a complaint against him – a charge which Mukesh dismissed as a “blackmail tactic”. He also threatened to take legal action against the complainant.

The allegations were made by the actress following the release of the Hema Justice Committee report, which revealed widespread sexual abuse and harassment of women in the Malayalam film industry. Mukesh, who has been a two-term MP for the Kollam parliamentary seat, has denied the allegations.

Who are the other people involved?

Others facing legal scrutiny following the filing of FIRs by the police include Edavela Babu, Maniyanpilla Raju, director VK Prakash and production managers Vichu and Noble.

Following the findings of the report, superstar Mohanlal resigned from his post as AMMA president. He later pleaded with the public not to “destroy” the Malayalam film industry as many people's livelihoods depend on it.