Sexual abuse allegations have rocked the Malayalam film industry forcing popular actor Siddique and director Ranjith to resign from their posts as general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (A.M.M.A.) and Kerala Film Academy chairman. While a female actor levelled allegations of sexual assault against Siddique, popular Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra had accused Renjith of misbehaving with her.
The revelations come amid the release of Justice Hema Committee report which states about incidents of sexual abuse and casting couch in the industry.
Siddique told reporters that he had sent his resignation letter to A.M.M.A president Mohanlal. "Yes. I have tendered my official resignation to the president of the organisation, Mohanlal. Since there were allegations against me, I have decided not to continue in the post and resigned," Siddique said.
This comes as a female actor levelled serious allegations of sexual assault against Siddique. She alleged that Siddique abused her after inviting her for a movie discussion. The victim charged that many of her friends too faced similar attacks from the actor.
The actress said that she contacted Siddique when she was 21. The senior actor told her to come to the Mascot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram to meet him. "There, he locked me in the room and sexually abused me. I had to escape from there," she added. The actress said she had raised the complaint before too but nothing happened. She added that she was expelled from movies and hence decided to come forward once again with the allegations.
Meanwhile, Mitra alleged that Renjith, a prominent director and actor, misbehaved with her when she was invited to his residence for a project discussion. She said his gestures made her extremely uncomfortable so she decided not to work on the project. Ranjith denied the accusations, stating that Mitra was called for an audition for the movie Paleri Manikyam but was not selected as she was not suitable for the role.
Ever since the Justice Hema Committee report on harassment faced by women in the Malayalam cinema industry was released, there have been calls from several quarters to initiate action against the guilty. The report has recorded explosive accounts of harassment, exploitation and ill-treatment of female professionals. It also alleged that a "criminal gang" was controlling the industry where unyielding women were squeezed out. The panel report also alleged there was a "power nexus" consisting of a handful of producers, directors, actors and production controllers.
The commission was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case involving actor Dileep to study issues of sexual harassment and gender inequality in Malayalam cinema.
