WCC urges Kerala CM to safeguard complainants' privacy during SIT Investigation

Thiruvananthapuram: Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) members on Wednesday held a meeting with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in connection with the Hema Committee report. The members met with the Chief Minister to express their position on the follow-up of the report. The WCC urged the Chief Minister that the privacy of those who testified before the Hema Committee should be ensured. The members also demanded that privacy should not be violated in the name of SIT investigation, facilities should be ensured for women at the location and the recommendations of the Hema Committee should be implemented.

It is learned that the film policy was also discussed.

Deedi Damodaran, Rima Kallingal, Beena Paul, Revathy were among those present for the meeting.

Rima Kallingal responded after the meeting with the Chief Minister that the aim is to resolve the problem and explore what can be done together with the government.

 On Tuesday, the Kerala High Court directed the government to explain what steps have been taken to uphold women's dignity after the release of the Hema Committee report.

A special division bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and C S Sudha said that 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 Special Investigation Team (SIT) to take requisite action in accordance with law.

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

Following the allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation cropping up 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. (with PTI inputs)