Sanal Kumar Sasidharan behind bars for 'threatening' actor Manju Warrier

Award-winning Malayalam filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, found himself behind bars on Thursday (May 5), after actor Manju Warrier complained that he was repeatedly “insulting and threatening” her on social media by saying that her “life was in danger”.

After Warrier filed the complaint on Wednesday, Sasidharan, who resisted the police at first, was taken into custody from Parassala in Thiruvananthapuram rural. In her complaint, Warrier said that Sasidharan, has been pestering her by sending messages and attempting to insult her on social media. Warrier had acted in his 2020 directorial Kayattam.

Recently, the police recorded Warrier’s statement in the alleged conspiracy case against police officials who are probing the 2017 woman actor abduction and sexual assault case, in which her ex-husband and popular actor Dileep is one of the accused. According to news reports, after Warrier gave her statement before the police, Sasidharan commented on social media that her life is in danger. Further, he said the head of the investigation team has been removed after she gave her statement to the police.

Also read: Actress Manju Warrier’s life is in danger, alleges Kerala filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan

Earlier this week, Sasidharan wrote an extensive social media message claiming that Warrier’s life was in danger. In a Facebook post, he said that it is very serious and that the life of the famous Malayalam actress Manju Warrier was in danger. And that he was concerned about her silence and alleged that her managers were detaining her.

In an earlier post, he had also written that he has no personal interest in this matter and he totally understands that he stands on a dangerous edge on this issue. “I can see a possibility of Manju Warrier coming out and say that she is just fine and I am making unnecessary hue and cry…”, he wrote.

Sasidharan is known for films such as S Durga in 2017 (Hivos Tiger Award, Rotterdam film festival), and Ozhivudivasathe Kali in 2015 (Best Film, Kerala State Government). In 2017, his film S Durga was dropped from the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and the director moved the Kerala High Court where he got a favourable verdict.