Kerala actor and MLA accused of sexual abuse expelled from film panel

Malayalam film actor and CPIM MP Mukesh accused of sexual abuse (Dossier).

Thiruvananthapuram:

The #MeToo scandal that has been plaguing the Malayalam film industry since the Justice Hema Committee report was released has had its first political fallout, with actor Mukesh, also a CPI(M) MLA, being ousted from a state government committee responsible for formulating cinema policies.

Mukesh has been accused of sexual abuse by actor Minu Muneer, who said he and another actor, Jayasurya, had molested her on the set of a film in 2013. Mukesh, she said, had made unwanted advances when she asked for his help to join the industry’s actors’ organisation, AMMA.

“There is a lot of exploitation in this industry. I am a witness and a victim. When I moved to Chennai, no one contacted me to ask what happened…” she told NDTV.

READ | ‘Hugged me, kissed me’: Malayalam actor to NDTV on sexual abuse

Mukesh denied the allegations in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

He demanded a “transparent investigation… to reveal the true nature of the allegations being discussed in public”. He alleged that Ms Muneer first approached him in 2009 and then in 2022, when she asked for “at least Rs 100,000” and her husband then demanded “a huge amount of money”.

READ | ‘Truth must come out…’: Kerala actor accused of sexual abuse alleges blackmail

“But I am not prepared to surrender to blackmail tactics. The truth must come out… I welcome investigations into allegations against filmmakers, including myself,” he said on Facebook.

Meanwhile, amid the flood of such allegations, veteran actor Mohanlal yesterday resigned as head of AMMA. The organisation’s executive committee also stopped taking “moral responsibility”.

READ | Mohanlal quits as head of Malayalam film organisation amid ‘MeToo’ storm

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is under fire from the opposition BJP and the Congress-led United Democratic Front, has formed a seven-member SIT to probe all allegations of sexual abuse.

READ | Mollywood #MeToo: 17 cases so far, actor warns of threats after coming out

So far, a total of 17 cases have been registered against actors and filmmakers, including Siddique and Ranjith Balakrishnan, who has been accused of sexual assault by Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra.

“Everyone knows about it (the sexual abuse and exploitation of women). It is not new… in this industry it is widespread. The problem is that it has been normalised,” she told NDTV.

The three-member Hema Justice Committee was established by the state in 2017 and submitted its report in 2019. However, the report has not been made public until now due to legal challenges from industry members.

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