Director and assistant booked for raping assistant director in Kerala | Latest news India

Police in Kerala’s Maradu have arrested a Malayalam film director and his assistant for raping a woman, police said on Friday.

The accused were identified as Suresh Thiruvalla, the director, and his assistant Vijith Vijayakumar.

According to the complaint, Suresh allegedly raped the woman, an assistant director in the film industry, on the pretext of offering her roles and promising to marry her. The complainant alleged that she was also sexually assaulted by Vijayakumar.

Suresh directed the films “Orma” and “Naleykay”.

A Maradu SP officer said even if the FIR was registered here, the matter would ultimately be probed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which is probing a spate of sexual abuse complaints against public figures. Malayalam film industry.

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Several actors, directors and technicians in the industry have been accused of sexual assault following the publication of the Justice Hema Committee report in 2017 after the 2017 assault case against an actress which highlighted systemic sexual abuse against women in the film industry. The report was published almost five years after it was submitted to the government.

The landmark report on the working conditions of women film professionals in Kerala, released on August 19, said that women artists and actresses were routinely solicited for sexual favors in exchange for opportunities, asked to compromise, treated with strength shown by their men. colleagues and threatened with bans if they attempted to sue. The committee’s report — originally 295 pages long — was shortened by 66 pages to redact the names and information of those who testified and others against whom allegations were made.

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After the report was published, several actresses, including a Bengali actress, went public with allegations of sexual harassment against some of the well-known faces of Malayalam cinema, including director Ranjith and actors Siddique and Mukesh.

On August 25, the Kerala government constituted an SIT, comprising senior IPS officials, to probe the allegations, even as Siddique and Ranjith resigned as general secretary of the Malayalam Cinema Artists’ Association (AMMA) and president of Kerala Chalachitra Academy, a state school. run the establishment, respectively. Malayalam actor Mohanlal also resigned as AMMA president and all 17 members of the influential body’s executive committee also resigned en masse, taking up their “moral responsibility”.