Days after resigning from the post of general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists following sexual assault allegations, actor Siddique filed a complaint with Kerala police against Revathi Sampath on Monday. Siddique reportedly called the allegations a “publicity stunt”.
The actor, who is currently in Ooty for a film’s shooting, reportedly filed the complaint with the state police chief via email. In the complaint, the actor alleged Revathi Sampath had first levelled the allegations against him in 2019, during the #MeToo movement, and she only accused him of using offensive words then. Siddique alleged Sampath had changed her stand after the release of Hema committee report and there was some agenda behind the allegations.
“Initially, she alleged that I used offensive words against her. But now, she is alleging that I sexually assaulted her. She has changed her allegations against me when the Hema Committee report came out,” Siddique said in his complaint.
Siddique resigned from AMMA on Sunday following the allegations, a day after conducting a press meet to explain the association’s stand on the Hema committee report.
Revathi Sampath had said 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. Sampath added that she was expelled from movies and hence decided to come forward once again with the allegations.
Sampath said she had evidence against Siddique and would proceed legally. Sampath sought assurance from authorities that justice would be served.
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.
