Kerala High Court To Form a Special Bench To Deal Cases Related with Hema Committee Report
The Kerala High Court on Thursday announced the creation of a two-member panel to handle cases stemming from the eye-opening revelations of the Hema Committee report related to violence against women in Malayalam cinema. This exclusive bench will have the presence of a female justice and will include Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambir and Justice CS Sudha. It was producer Sajimon Parayil’s plea, requesting proactive steps to prevent the widespread publicity of the complete Hema Committee report, which prompted this development.
Kerala HC To Form Special Bench
A report by Manorama stated that it is yet to be known if the bench will focus on the sexual assault cases. Meanwhile, Kollam MLA Mukesh and actor Edavela Babu, accused of rape after a woman co-actor complained, are waiting for the High Court to consider their anticipatory bail pleas. The government, however, is opposed to the idea of granting these two bail.
Numerous leading personalities from the Malayalam film fraternity are being pointed out for unfortunate incidents of sexual harassment and assault, supported by multiple witnesses. This has resulted in the lodging of a number of official police reports. The accused list includes the likes of performers Siddique, Jayasurya, Maniyanpilla Raju, Mukesh, Edavela Babu, Alencier, and Nivin Pauly along with movie directors such as Ranjith and Bhadran. These serious allegations emerge in the wake of the Justice K Hema Committee report release.
About Hema Committee Report
In 2017, an actress assault case shed light on grave issues within the Malayalam film industry, uncovering instances of women’s ill-treatment and exploitation. As allegations of sexual harassment against various industry actors and directors came to fore, the Kerala government sprung into action. On August 25, they announced the establishment of a special investigation team, composed of seven members, entrusted with the responsibility of probing into these serious claims.
