WCC accuses Malayalam TV channel of invading privacy of women who openly report sexual abuse; writes to Kerala CM

The Women in Cinema Collective, an organisation of professional women working in the Malayalam film industry, on Monday (September 16) wrote an open letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, seeking his intervention to protect the privacy of women who have given their statements before the Justice K Hema commission.

In the letter posted on the organisation’s official Facebook page, the organisation claims that a private Malayalam television channel is airing reports based on the statements allegedly given by the women film professionals before a government-appointed committee.

According to the WCC, they are now witnessing a situation where those statements are being challenged by the television station for an “irresponsible media process”.

It was further argued that the broadcasting of the survivors’ private statements raises suspicions about the intentions of at least some of the people with access to the commission’s report.

The news reports were broadcast in a way that allowed people to easily identify the survivors, and the organization provided detailed information.

“The invasion of privacy is unjust,” the WCC said in the letter.

The organisation said the channel’s reporting had led to psychological distress among survivors and urged the CM to intervene and put an end to this ‘news assault’ on women’s privacy.

The Justice K Hema Committee was set up by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress sexual assault case. The report exposed cases of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry.

After the report was made public and allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation surfaced against several actors and directors, the state government on August 25 announced the formation of a seven-member special investigation team to probe the allegations.