Hema Commission Report: SIT meets to devise roadmap for probing allegations of sexual exploitation in Malayalam film industry

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to probe the ‘me-too’ revelations of allegations of sexual exploitation in the Malayalam film industry met at the state police headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala on Tuesday (August 27, 2024).

The team is likely to draw up a roadmap for the highly complex and socially sensitive investigation, which could implicate a large number of A-list stars, producers and directors and potentially expose them to serious legal problems.

This past weekend, harrowing stories of ‘coercive’ sexual acts in the workplace, unwanted sexual comments and advances on film sets and at least one alleged case of a young female performer being traded to a producer for sex have surfaced on social media and in the mainstream media, leading to public protests and loud demands for justice from opposition parties.

The scandal threw the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government into a confusing maelstrom, leading the government to constitute a special team comprising four women IPS officers.

Law in motion

At least eight women, including aspiring actors and screenwriters, have gone public with shocking allegations against industry figures.

They also painted a bleak picture of a work culture in which sexual submission was a prerequisite for film assignments.

The women also highlighted the poor working environment for disadvantaged female actors and technicians, including a lack of dressing rooms, toilets, safe housing and safe travel times.

On Tuesday, the ‘wronged women’ triggered the law by filing detailed complaints with the police, prompting the police to register an FIR in at least one case in Kochi.

Interestingly, survivors told the media that the recent publication of the damning findings of the Justice K. Hema Committee report, which examined the “widespread” sexual exploitation, casting couch culture, patriarchy and misogyny faced by women in the entertainment industry, encouraged them to seek justice after years of doubt and fear.

CM’s insurance

They said the assurance given by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at a press conference last week that the government would look into specific complaints strengthened their resolve and helped them overcome fears of reprisals and ostracism and seek justice, albeit with some delay.

Some complainants said that some top film industry executives had further pushed them to take drastic action by poking holes in their stories.

Some industry spokespeople had criticised the late nature of the complaints as a negative and wondered what had prevented the women from going to the police at the time of the alleged offence.

Industry figures also attempted to spread conspiracy theories, portraying the survivors’ statements as name-and-shaming campaigns and extortion schemes to blackmail top stars.

SIT contacts victims

Some aggrieved persons said that women IPS officers had contacted them on Tuesday. A complainant told reporters that the officers were empathetic and supportive. “The officers recognised the risks we took to finally come forward. They seemed to understand that powerful cliques in the industry had so far deprived us of our agency to file police complaints,” she said.

No foregone conclusion

A senior official familiar with similar sensational investigations said the current inquiry was far from an open-and-shut case. He said that diligent fact-checking would likely follow empathetic listening.

Because the offences are detected so late, police must obtain the dates, locations and details of financial transactions, including receipts, to establish a timetable for effective prosecution.

Survivors’ contemporaneous statements to friends, text messages, emails, personal diaries, emails, and social media accounts can help investigators build an airtight case. The investigation may include interviewing actors and technicians involved in previous film projects, some of which date back a decade or more.

Another officer said that based on the personal stories, the instances of sexual exploitation, use of sexist language, misogynistic behavior and abuse reported by survivors showed a clear pattern of criminal behavior.

Team members

State police chief Sheikh Darvesh Saheb chaired the meeting. The team members are H Venkatesh, Additional Director General of Police, Crime Branch, Inspector General of Police, Sparjan Kumar, DIG Ajitha Beegum, SP, Crime Branch Headquarters, Merin Joseph, AIG Coastal Police, G Poonkuzhali, SP, Aishwarya Dongere, AIG, Law and Order, V Ajith, and SP, Crime Branch, S Madhusoodhanan. Some officers attended the closed-door conference online.