Amid #MeToo wave in Mollywood, actress Sowmya has accused a Tamil director of "grooming her as a sex slave" and even allegedly inserted a rod into her genitals.
Speaking during an interview with NDTV, the actress alleged that the man came to her with his wife when she was aged 18. She claimed that the director "messed with her brain", saying he wanted to have a child with her.
Sowmya said she will disclose the alleged perpetrator's name to the Kerala Special Investigation Team (SIT) which tasked with probing #MeToo allegations against actors and directors in Malayalam film industry following the release of the Hema Committee Report. This report had brought to light the alleged sexual abuse against women in the movie industry.
"I was in a fantasy world. So I went for a screen test with this couple. I was a child, I didn't know much," she told the TV channel. She said her family was forced into letting her act after the director told her father about the expense for the screen test.
Sowmya said that during the shooting, he didn't speak to her and gave her the "angry silent treatment". While his wife the director on paper, he was actually directing the whole film.
She went on to reveal that the the man's daughter had accused him of rape and left him. However, the couple told her the daughter was lying. They then allegedly took her to their home, giving her good food and saying nice things. As a teenager who was rebellious at home, she took a like to this nice couple. "That was the grooming process... he knew fully well what he was doing," she told the channel.
Sowmya said once, when his wife was not around, the man called her his daughter and kissed her. "I completely froze. I was so desperate to tell my friends but couldn't. I was ashamed, thinking I had done something wrong," NDTV quoted her as saying.
She said she continued going for dance rehearsals and came back. "...At some point, he forced himself on me... so he raped me. This went on for close to a year while I was in college," she said.
Sowmya said it took her 30 years to heal and recover from this "sense of shame"
