Director Ranjith
Credit: X/@sri50
A young male actor has now filed a complaint against the Kerala filmmaker Ranjith, accusing the director of having forced him to strip naked, besides sexually assaulting him in 2012.
In his complaint, he claimed that Ranjith had invited the victim to a Bengaluru hotel for an audition where he sexually assaulted him. The complainant said he thought it was part of the audition, ANI reported the Kerala police say.
Ranjith reportedly assaulted him sexually and the next day morning he offered money to the victim.
The actor has filed a complaint to the DGP and SIT will consider it.
Speaking to The Week, the actor said that Ranjith was on the phone with an actress while he was being sexually harassed.
As per the complainant, his naked photos were sent to Revathi. Ranjith also reportedly told him that Revathi liked what she saw.
"When Ranjith told me to stand naked, he was talking to an actress. I have already revealed the name of that actress—Revathi. Ranjith told me it was Revathi. I don't know if there is any relationship between Ranjith and Revathi, but Ranjith took my photos and sent them to her," the actor said, adding, "When I asked who the photos were being sent to, Ranjith said they were sent to Revathi, adding that she liked what she saw. This incident happened during the location pack-up of the movie 'Bavuttiyude Namathil.' The director was present there in connection with the audio launch of the movie or some other related event."
Revathi is a member of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), an advocacy group that champions women’s rights in the industry.
The complainant reportedly claimed that he was traumatised by the ordeal and only came forward once the Hema committee report came out.
Ranjith has recently been accused of sexual misconduct by Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra as well.