2 weeks Ago
Kochi, Nov 22(PTI) A female actor who had levelled sexual abuse allegations against several male actors, including CPI(M) MLA M Mukesh and Jayasurya, on Friday said she was not keen on pursuing her complaints due to "lack of support and protection from the Kerala government". The complainant also alleged "carelessness" on the part of the state government and said she was "mentally exhausted" and therefore, not keen on taking the complaints forward. "I would like to tell everyone that due to the government's carelessness and lack of protection for a woman who has come forward like this, I have suffered more than I can handle.
I am mentally exhausted. They are not helping or protecting a woman. "Therefore, I do not want to pursue the cases.
It is not because I have compromised with anyone." She claimed that she was made an accused in a POCSO case following her complaints against the actors, also including Maniyanpilla Raju and Idavela Babu, and the government did nothing to protect her. "I am innocent.
I want justice. I want the POCSO case against me to be probed thoroughly and quickly. If I commit suicide, the government will be responsible for it," she said.
Her allegations against the actors came in the wake of the disclosure of the Justice Hema Committee report which revealed instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry, prompting calls for action against the guilty. The Justice Hema Committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case. The complete report was placed before the Kerala High Court which directed that it be handed over to the special investigation team (SIT) that was constituted to probe complaints of sexual abuse in the film industry.
Subsequently, 26 FIRs were registered by the SIT in connection with the revelations in the report. (This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI).
