Govt's mistaken inclusion of sensitive para in Hema Committee Report reveals `sexual assault from..'

Kochi: In a surprising development, it has been revealed that a page meant to be excluded from the Hema Committee Report was inadvertently included in the final version released by the government. Interestingly, the part says that "...women face sexual harassment even from very well-known people in the film industry."

On July 5, State Public Information Officer (SPIO) ordered the release of the Hema Committee report, excluding paragraphs 96, 165 to 196, and the annexure. The ruling also specified that any additional content affecting privacy should be evaluated and either redacted or provided to applicants as necessary.

However, the government withheld paragraphs 97 to 108. But, paragraph 96, which was meant to be excluded, was included in the released report.

The included section reads: "On analysis of evidence placed before us, we are satisfied that women face sexual harassment even from very well-known people in the film industry, who were named before the committee. On considering the various aspects we have no reason to disbelieve what was stated before us regarding sexual harassment in the film industry."