Actor Alencier Ley Lopez has been slapped with sexual assault charges based on the complaint lodged by an actress in the Malayalam film industry. In reponse, Alencier said let the court decide if he is guilty.
In the complaint, the actress alleged that Alencier sexually assaulted her in 2017 during the shooting of the film, Aabhaasam, in Bengaluru. In 2018, she had come forward with the allegation against the actor and revealed her identity on Facebook.
The case was registered at Chengamanadu police station in Kochi. The charges include IPC sections 354 (sexual assault) and 451 (trespassing).
She claimed in the complaint that she had informed Edavela Babu, who was the general secretary of AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artists) back then. However, she alleged that Babu told her that Alencier had already tendered an apology.
The investigation in the case will be carried out by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was formed to probe sexual abused allegations in the Malayalam film industry following the release of the Hema Committee Report.
The allegations come in the backdrop of cases against several actors and directors in the Malayalam movie industry. One of the first sexual harassment cases was filed against filmmaker Ranjith by a Bengali actress. Later, a man also alleged that Ranjith molested him.
Actor Siddique was accused of sexually assaulting an actress while sexual harassment cases were filed against MLA and actor Mukesh as well as other artists including Jayasurya, Edavela Babu and Maniyanpilla Raju. Actor Baburaj and director V A Shrikumar were accused of sexually assaulting a junior artist.
On Tuesday, actor Nivin Pauly dismissed sexual assault allegations against him as baseless, adding that he will fight it legally.
