Kerala government forms seven-member police team to probe atrocities against women in Mollywood

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Under fire for its lax approach to the Justice Hema Committee revelations about sexual exploitation rampant in the Malayalam film industry, the state government has finally put its foot down and formed a special police investigation team to probe the allegations. The seven-member team led by South Zone IG Sparjan Kumar has four women IPS officers on board.

The other members of the team are Thiruvananthapuram Range DIG S Ajeetha Begum, Crime Branch SP Merin Joseph, Coastal Police AIG G Poonkuzhali, Kerala Police Academy Assistant Director Aishwarya Dongre, AIG Law and Order Ajith V and Crime Branch SP S Madhusoodanan. Crime Branch chief ADGP H Venkatesh will oversee the proceedings.

The decision to form the special team was taken at a meeting of senior police officers convened by CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday. The state government had so far maintained that it was open to investigating the allegations if the victims were willing to file complaints.

This position was criticised by the opposition parties and legal experts who argued that the government can set the legal ball rolling by registering FIRs on its own initiative and that actual complainants are needed only at a later stage of the legal process.

The huge outcry over the government’s lack of action and the legal advice they received prompted the state government to set up a special team to investigate the allegations.

The sources said that the special team will not register First Information Reports (FIR) on its own initiative, but will rather register cases based on complaints received from the aggrieved actresses. The formation of the SIT, sources added, was to encourage the victims to come forward and file their complaints.