Actor-legislator Mukesh, along with 6 others, have been charged with sexual harassment
Actor-legislator M. File photo of Mukesh Photo credit: Special Arrangements
Actor-legislator M. Kerala Police on Thursday released the report of Justice Hema Committee after a complaint of sexual harassment by a female actor. A case has been filed against seven people including Mukesh.
Six cases were registered in Ernakulam district, and one in Thiruvananthapuram.
All cases will be handed over to SIT for investigation
The First Information Report against Mr. Mukesh, an MLA of the ruling CPI(M), has been registered under Section 376 (rape), a non-bailable offence, Section 354 (assault or criminal force on a woman intended to outrage her modesty), and the Indian Penal Code. (IPC) 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman by word, word, gesture or object).
The District and Sessions Court, Ernakulam, on Thursday directed the investigating officer not to arrest him till September 3 after stating that he had no chance of escaping the clutches of the law. The order came on an anticipatory bail plea moved by the actor, who submitted that he was ready to cooperate with the investigation and appear before the investigating officer.
Actor and former general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMAMA) Edavella Babu was also booked on the same charges. VS Chandrasekaran, who resigned as Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) legal aid cell chairman and lawyers’ Congress state committee president, has been booked under IPC sections 376 (rape) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
Actor and former AMMA office-bearer Manyanpilla Raju and production controller Noble have been booked under IPC sections 354 and 509.
The five accused are among the seven named by the actor in several petitions filed with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police Ajitha Begum to probe the sexual harassment case on Tuesday. In view of this, a team of SIT led by Ms. Begum recorded the statement of the applicant in her apartment on Wednesday.
Police have also registered an FIR against a production controller identified as Vichu, who was one of the accused criminals named after the female actor.
A case has been filed against actor Jayasuriya for allegedly sexually harassing a female artiste several years ago at the state secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram during the shooting of a film. Police have registered a case for non-bailable provisions including sections 354 (outraging the modesty of women) and 354A (sexual harassment) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code. The actor has been accused of misbehaving with a colleague on the set of the film De ingottu nakkie In 2008.
The Kerala Police has reportedly sent the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Thiruvananthapuram, to record the statement of a young and aspiring artiste, who has accused actor Siddique of rape after he lured her to a hotel in the capital on the pretext of auditioning her in public. An upcoming movie project in 2016. Officials said on Thursday that police have reportedly sought the services of a woman magistrate to record the survivor’s statement on camera.
