AMMA seeks probe into sexual allegations documented in Hema committee report

Thiruvananthapuram: Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), the prominent forum of Malayalam actors, has sought probe into the allegations of sexual harassments faced by the female actors, which are documented in the Justice Hema committee report.

AMMA general secretary Siddique said that the association welcomes the Hema committee report and its recommendations. All the allegations mentioned in the report should be probed into, he said.

AMMA was of the view that the report should come out by protecting the identity of the victims so that the smokescreen over it could be avoided. Siddique also said that the association welcomes the high court's order asking the Kerala government to submit the full report in a sealed cover.

AMMA vice president Jagadish said that if the high court orders registering cases against any members of AMMA on the basis of the Hema committee report, AMMA would definitely take action against them.

Even as Siddique said that AMMA welcomes the Hema committee report, he lamented that majority of the members of AMMA, including women, were not approached by the Hema committee while preparing the report.

Siddique said that the entire film industry should not be framed in a bad light on the basis of some isolated incidents mentioned in the Hema committee report.

"AMMA had no information about the presence of any 'mafia' in the film industry of issues like casting couch. AMMA only recently received one complaint of sexual assault which happened in 2006. It was mentioned that the victim filed a complaint in 2018 on the matter. It needs to be examined. AMMA used to receive complaints regarding payment of remuneration and had intervened in those issues," he said.

Meanwhile, there are allegations that some additional paragraphs of the Hema committee report were also eliminated besides the portions redacted by the State Information Commission.

Opposition leader V D Satheesan on Friday sent a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking a police probe into the sexual allegations revealed in the Hema committee report. He also strongly criticised the government for sitting on the report for nearly five years.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that cases could not be registered on the basis of the sexual assaults mentioned in the Hema committee report as the victims deposed before the committee on the assurance of protecting their privacy. This stand is being widely criticised. With AMMA too seeking a probe, the state government might be forced to reconsider its stand.