Protect privacy for women who spoke to investigators: WCC members urge Kerala CM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Representatives of Women in Cinema Collective on Wednesday met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and requested him to protect the privacy of women who had given statements before the special investigation team which is probing allegations that cropped up in connection with the film industry after the recent release of the Justice Hema Committee report.

Well-known actors Revathi and Rima Kallingal, screenwriter Deedi Damodaran and editor Bina Paul Venugopal were among those who called on the CM at his office in the Secretariat here.

The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) representatives met the chief minister a day after the Kerala High Court pulled up the Left government in the state, saying its inaction on the Justice Hema Committee report was "alarmingly lethargic."

It had directed the government to forthwith furnish a full copy of the committee's report, with all annexures, to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which in turn shall go through it in entirety "to see whether any offence, cognizable or otherwise, has been made out at the instance of any person".

After meeting the CM, Kallingal told reporters here that they wanted to bring all stakeholders in the industry together.

WCC members Damodaran and Asha Achu Joseph urged careful handling of survivors who testified before the Hema committee, citing privacy concerns.

"We wanted the government to know that the case should be always there, and they should protect whatever these women demand. The CM said he will definitely look at it and will study the entire situation, because he is not aware of certain specific instances, as we brought out certain instances. He said he will look into it," she said.

Sharing similar sentiments, Deedi Damodaran said they were unsure about the fate of the women who had approached the Hema Committee to report something they did not want to revisit.

"It was done on a condition that their privacy would be protected. It goes without saying that their privacy should be protected...," she said.

Damodaran said considering their concern, the WCC recently approached the Women's Commission which had assured them that such things would not be repeated.

However, the High Court has now ordered that the entire Hema Committee report should be given to the SIT.

"In that case, we wanted some clarity as to how privacy would be protected. Because the dialogue in the first phase was between us and the CM....everything happened after that, So we had to make this clear," she explained.

The WCC member said the persons who went to meet the CM on Wednesday were the same members who had signed the first petition seven years ago.

Stating that the SIT is a "bit of a concern", she, however, said they were satisfied as something is being done in this regard, though it has nothing to do with the Hema Committee report as such.

"What was happening is that the people who had deposed before the Hema Committee were also summoned and enquiries were being conducted...their videos were recorded and these were of a little of concern to us.. and all the ones who had deposed before the committee.. they were a little disturbed," she said

It was communicated to all others who were part of the committee survey group, she said.

Damodaran also said the WCC's meeting with the CM was "positive".

"He (Vijayan) seems to be very positive...we talked about the legal and psychological support for the survivors and I guess he has accepted it," she said.

The Chief Minister also assured that the other terms of reference in the committee report would be executed in no time, she added.

A special division bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and C S Sudha had on Tuesday said the government got the report over four years ago and ought to have immediately responded and directed that the full report be handed over to the SIT to take requisite action in accordance with law.

The SIT shall then proceed to take suitable action in accordance with law by treating the contents of the report as 'information' for the purpose of setting law in motion, the bench said.

The Justice Hema Committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case and its report revealed instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry.

Following allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation against several actors and directors in the wake of the report being made public, the state government on August 25 announced the establishment of a seven-member special investigation team to probe them.