SIT probe into sexual harassment in Molly has gained momentum
Members of the Women’s Justice Movement take out a procession to the Superintendent of Police office in Palakkad on August 27, 2024. They called for an inquiry into the findings of the Hema Committee report and demanded immediate implementation of its recommendations. | Photo credit: KK Mustafah
A massive probe into allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse in the Malayalam film industry gathered pace on Wednesday.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the allegations recorded the statement of the female artiste who had publicly accused veteran actor and former general secretary of the Malayalam Movie Artistes Association Siddique of raping her at a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram on the pretext of an audition. Its for a movie project.
The SIT also moved to Kochi, where investigators summoned a female actor who had publicly accused four actors and two production controllers of sexual harassment. She also accused a politically connected lawyer of trying to send her to a film producer for sex.
Officials said the SIT will try to strengthen the evidence given by the survivors by persuading them to give in-camera statements in a magistrate’s court.
However, they said, testimonials alone may not provide the standard of proof necessary for a conviction in late-reporting sexual assault cases.
Thus, the SIT can examine past production schedules, film set stills, co-actor and technical staff statements, and costume memorabilia to, for one, verify survivor testimony and construct a timeline to reconstruct the chain of events. and the circumstances that lead to the crime.
Moreover, the statements of chauffeurs and personal staff of the accused, several high-profile actors, who often follow a well-planned day with shooting dates fixed in advance, could prove crucial to the case.
Production companies and their auditors can provide evidence of schedules, payments and other financial transactions, including hotel and car rentals.
The police may want to record such statements as sworn statements for prosecutorial convenience. The SIT will interrogate co-actors who worked with the suspects on film sets relevant to the crime.
A senior investigator said such supplementary statements could help police strengthen the testimony of survivors and enable the prosecution to put together a water-tight case against the suspects. He said the SIT’s aim could be to find well-validated evidence to bolster the credibility of the survivor’s story.
Police have so far adopted a victim-centred investigation approach. Law enforcement seemed acutely aware that sexual assault survivors braved heavy personal and professional adversity and risked ostracism and vicious cyber attacks to come forward years later. The high-profile and politically sensitive investigation grabbed public attention and dominated news cycles in the state for days.
