Daisy* says when she arrived at the set of Bro Daddy as a background actor, it wasn’t with any lofty dreams of making it big in Malayalam cinema. She had heard through the Hyderabad Malayali Association that it was a Mohanlal-Prithviraj film and like several others who were selected via the association to appear in the film, she was doing it free of cost, merely for the experience.
But what happened to her on the night of September 3, 2021 has since radically altered the course of her life. That night, Manzoor Rasheed, one of the assistant directors of the film, allegedly spiked her soft drink in her hotel room, before sexually assaulting her while she was unconscious.
“Everyone on the set was at that hotel that night. So when Manzoor came to my room around 7 pm, I didn’t think much of it,” Daisy told TNM. He had told her that they could go meet the film’s chief associate and another crew member, pouring her some Sprite in the meantime. “Soon after having the drink, I began to feel dizzy and breathless. So he just told me to get some rest.”
When she woke up around 11 pm that night, she realised she was sexually assaulted.
“I was terrified. I called some friends to tell them what happened, and they asked me to vacate my room immediately for the fear that someone else might come into the room. My husband came to pick me up with my child, but I was so scared that I didn’t tell him what happened,” Daisy said.
From the very next day, she alleged, Manzoor began blackmailing her using her nude images. He allegedly threatened to release her photographs publicly, extorting money to the tune of Rs 6.5 lakh from her in the days that followed. “He used to call me on WhatsApp at midnight and constantly blackmail me,” she said.
Soon after the incident, Daisy said she had returned to the hotel to try and grab his phone from him so she could delete her photos. “I wasn’t successful, but I have proof of all this. I even have the receipt of the Ola auto that I took to the hotel.”
Later, Mansoor allegedly forced her to pay for a new phone for him.
The fallout of all this in her personal life was significant, Daisy said. After she confided in her husband about what happened at the film location, he allegedly began assaulting her. “There was a fight at home every day. The pain I went through during those days was unbearable,” she said.
She added that during this time, Manzoor had started making many promises to her, claiming that he would take care of her if she left her husband, and persistently pressuring her to do so.
Eventually, Daisy and her husband filed for a mutual divorce, and on September 13, 2023, two years after the crime, Daisy filed a complaint against Manzoor with the Gachibowli police station in Hyderabad. A case of rape was registered against him, but an arrest is yet to be made.
A police source in Hyderabad told TNM that they had tried their “level best” to arrest the accused, but that by then Manzoor had approached the Kerala High court and received interim bail. “We went twice to Kerala for further investigation, but we couldn’t trace him after that. Because of the time gap between the incident and the complaint, we don’t have any technical evidence,” he said, adding that the investigation hasn’t been completed yet.
“Once he is arrested, we can start the investigation all over again with any new information we can find,” the officer added.
Even as the case dragged on, Daisy was startled when she saw that Manzoor was still working as an assistant director for Empuraan, Prithviraj’s next directorial after Bro Daddy. “A lot of the crew members in both of these films were the same people. So I called one of them and told him what Manzoor had done to me. One of my cousins also contacted Prithviraj’s manager. I heard that they dismissed him from the film after that,” she said.
Prithviraj confirmed this to TNM, stating that he was made aware of the issue by his chief associate director in October 2023, just as the filming of Empuraan had begun. “He told me that such a complaint has been registered with the police against the said assistant director. This was just a few days into the first schedule. I wasn’t aware of this incident or the issues leading up to the complaint till then,” Prithviraj said.
The actor-director said Manzoor was instructed to leave the set the very same day, and that he was told to “present himself before the police and face the due course of law.”
Daisy had also filed an official complaint with the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA), which responded by urging her to file a criminal complaint against Manzoor. “Once the police initiate a case against Mr Rasheed, we will take the necessary steps to begin our internal disciplinary process,” the response read.
Daisy alleged that in the meantime, Manzoor went to her hometown in Alappuzha district and began to spread nasty rumours about her, with the support of local CPI(M) leaders. “Along with a local CPI(M) leader Kunji Chandu, Manzoor visited my hometown and met the panchayat members and others who knew me and told them made up stories about me. Some people called me asking what was happening, and told me that these people had come there inquiring about me,” she said.
One of those days, Daisy’s divorce lawyer called to inform her that a group of people had arrived in a vehicle and threatened him, warning him not to take her case as some CPI(M) members were involved. “Out of fear, he returned the money I had paid him.”
Daisy later filed a complaint with the Hyderabad city police commissioner, who sent two police officers to Kerala. “These officers arrived in my hometown on June 20. I arranged a vehicle for them, and they tracked Kunji Chandu while he was travelling from Ambalapuzha. They had found Manzoor and Kunji Chandu and followed them till Oachira. But someone tipped off the duo that the Hyderabad police were searching for them, prompting Manzoor to switch off his phone. It is off to this day,” she said.
Daisy has filed a complaint against Kunji Chandu as well with the Alappuzha Superintendent of Police. The complaint states that a group of people, including Kunji Chandu, visited her hometown in Alappuzha district, spreading rumours about her and issuing threats to her acquaintances. She also subsequently sent complaints to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Minister for Culture Saji Cherian, citing that a CPI(M) leader was protecting the perpetrator. She is yet to receive any response.
TNM contacted Kunji Chandu, who refused to answer our questions.
* Name changed to protect the privacy of the survivor.
With inputs from Anjana Meenakshi