The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) on Saturday, September 7, proposed the adoption of a Cinema Code of Conduct and sought opinions and views from all. The Hema Committee was formed in 2017, in the aftermath of a brutal sexual assault of a woman actor in Kochi, allegedly masterminded by actor Dileep. It was the WCC who met with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in 2017 and demanded government action, leading to the committee’s formation.
The WCC on their social media page said, "To rebuild the Malayalam film industry as an equal and safe workspace for all, we are commencing a series today with our proposed recommendations. We hope all industry members will come together in open solidarity and spirit to adopt a Cinema Code of Conduct that will help transform our film industry onscreen and offscreen for the better. Stay tuned!" read the post.
The WCC, which has for years been fighting for the release of the report, had earlier said in a note: “The order that breaks the long and disappointing silence indeed gives hope to all of us who have been relentlessly striving to break through.” It added that suggesting implementation of solutions without revealing the findings was an exercise of mockery of the system. “We strongly believe that this move (by the SIC) to reveal the findings with accountability can be an authentic basis for real solutions, change, and process,” the WCC noted.
The version of the report now available to the public has been heavily redacted to protect the privacy of those who deposed, with all identifiers, including the names of the perpetrators, removed. The report, however, has since emboldened many women in the industry to publicly share their traumatic experiences, triggering another #MeToo wave in Kerala.
Kerala Police have so far registered FIRs against 11 people, ten of which are from the film industry based on the complaints from women. Those who have been booked include actors Mukesh, Nivin Pauly, Siddique, Jayasurya, Edavela Babu, and Maniyanpilla Raju, directors Ranjith and VK Prakash, and production executives Vichu and Noble. Actor Baburaj, directors Tulasidas and VA Shrikumar Menon have been named in complaints too, but no FIRs have been registered against them so far.
Meanwhile, the special investigation team of seven police officials, of which four are woman IPS officers, are currently taking statements from those victims who have come forward with their complaints but are yet to question the accused. The Kerala High Court has decided to constitute a special bench with a woman judge to hear the cases related to the Justice Hema Committee report.
(With inputs from IANS)
