All About The #MeToo Crisis In Kerala

There has been a flurry of #MeToo stories from the Malayalam film industry since the release of the Hema Commission report on working conditions of women in regional cinema. FIRs have been filed against at least four prominent players in the industry alleging sexual abuse.

The Kerala High Court has ordered the state government to submit the entire report with the names and evidence in a sealed envelope. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the government will take strong action against misogyny and illegal practices and has announced a special investigation team to start preliminary investigations.

But before we delve into the Pandora’s box opened by the call for accountability, what has caused all this?

What is the Hema Commission report?

The Hema Committee Report is a 290-page document released by the Kerala government on the working conditions of women in the Malayalam film industry. It documents the widespread sexual harassment, abominable working conditions, inefficiency of redress mechanisms and possible solutions for women in the film industry.

The report was redacted to protect the privacy of survivors by removing all identifying information and names of perpetrators. Eleven paragraphs that were not on the Information Officer’s publication list were redacted. But it acknowledges how women have not only suffered trauma but have also been afraid to speak out. The consequences have reportedly included fear for their lives, being banned from the industry and being subjected to further harassment.

Trigger behind the report

It all started seven years ago, on February 17, 2017. A top actress was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a group of six criminals. An investigation revealed that the men may have been hired by a Malayalam superstar actor named Dileep, who is now accused of orchestrating and conspiring to abuse the female actor.

Last month we published an eleven-chapter story about the night of the crime and its consequences for the state in the years to come.

When news of the crime exploded in Kerala, other female actors came together in solidarity with the survivor. However, they soon realised that this was not a one-off incident. The crime prompted many women to come forward and tell their traumatic stories. #Avalkoppam, which means ‘With Her’, started trending on social media.

This Weinstein-scale revolution in Kerala began months before the global #MeToo movement. Many men opposed the feminist revolution and quite a few called the campaign a big, hysterical show. Mohanlal, one of Kerala’s most revered actors and president of the AMMA, called the #MeToo movement a “trend”.

In May 2017, just months after the crime, a group of 14 women from the Malayalam film industry came together and submitted a memorandum to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, demanding safe workplaces, better wages and redress cells. It was then that they formed the Women in Cinema Collective, or WCC — a first-of-its-kind association in India.

Months after its founding, WCC representatives stated in 2018 that there were “a lot of stories in the closet” while prominent people in the industry failed to take a stand, support an accused and make films with them.

In response to the outrage, the Kerala government formed the Hema Committee under the chairmanship of a retired judge named Justice K Hema. The aim was to listen, document and suggest reforms for women in the industry.

For the women of Kerala, this was a significant moment: they had a voice, they were heard, their pain was considered ‘news’ and the state government promised to address their concerns through the Hema committee.

Woman after woman sat before the three-bench panel and commemorated their trauma. In late 2019, a 5,000-page report, detailing the experiences of nearly 40 women, was submitted to the Chief Minister.

Buried by the Government of Kerala till August 19

Dileep’s case had sparked one of the most subversive feminist movements in India. And the dream that women saw around the world could become a reality in Kerala. It seemed that the state would now witness the great fall of violent, powerful men. Except that the report, once filed, was duly buried.

Despite activists and journalists demanding that the report be tabled in the Kerala Assembly, Chief Minister Pinaryi Vijayan refused to do so. The state government cited women’s privacy and that the report’s findings were too “major” as reasons for not releasing it.

Finally, in May 2022, the government published a one-and-a-half-page document summarizing the commission’s recommendations. But it was so vague that it effectively said nothing.

The Left Front government in Kerala’s decision to delay the report raised the question: Who were these men being protected and why?

Finally, this year, on August 19, five years after its composition, an edited version of the Hema Commission report was published.

Details in the report

Although the perpetrators are not named, the report is a monumental document that documents how young women were expected to offer themselves for sex on demand, how a group of powerful men called the “mafia” controlled the entire industry, and how women feared for their lives if they ever spoke about their trauma.

There are things in the report that may suggest that even minor girls have been targeted. The report refers to the industry as a boys’ club where women are completely suppressed. It exposes abuse of power, intimidation and manipulation in Malayalam cinema.

Ongoing aftermath, a series of allegations of sexual abuse

The WCC welcomed the report’s publication, as did the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists, or AMMA, which has more than 500 industry members.

Actor Siddique, who was the general secretary of AMMA, said the association – led by some of the most powerful men in the industry – was unaware of the plight of women until the report came out. He also said police action should be taken against anyone accused by the committee. The statements came about two weeks after the Hema committee report was released.

Ironically, actor Revathy Sampath came forward hours after her statement that she had accused Siddique of sexual abuse in 2019. No action was taken at the time, neither by AMMA nor the police.

With the Hema committee report hanging over their heads, public pressure quickly mounted and Siddique resigned from AMMA. He then filed a case against Revathy Sampath, calling the allegations part of a larger conspiracy. He has now been booked under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

Subsequently, the AMMA was forced to respond. Its president, Mohanlal, along with 17 other members of the executive committee, submitted their mass resignations.

In a statement, AMMA said: “In the context of the allegations of sexual harassment levelled in the media against some officials of the AMMA Governing Committee following the publication of the Hema Committee report, the existing AMMA Governing Committee has decided to resign and accept moral responsibility. A meeting of the general body will be held within two months and the new Governing Committee will be elected.”

Meanwhile, director Ranjith was accused of misbehaving with a Bengali actor, Sreelekha Mithra, during his audition for a 2009 Malayalam film. He too resigned as chairman of the Kerala Chalachitra Academy but denied the charges, claiming they were politically motivated. He has been booked under sections 354 and 354 B (sexual abuse) of the IPC.

Malayalam actor Jayasurya, Kollam CPIM MLA and actor M Mukesh have also been arrested in separate cases for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman.

Jayasurya has been charged under Section 354 (assault or violence against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Penal Code, while Mukesh has been charged under Section 354 (assault or violence against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to outrage the modesty of a woman).

(Sign language translation in the video by Manisha Sharma.)

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