WCC members meet Kerala CM; want privacy, protection for women
WCC members expressed their concerns to Pinarayi Vijayan over the safety and privacy of the women who had deposed before the Hema Committee
A day after the Kerala high court pulled up the Kerala state government for being 'alarmingly lethargic' and sitting on the Hema Committee report for years, the representatives of Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday and held discussions amidst raging controversies over the explosive revelations in the Justice K Hema Committee report.
The report sheds light into alleged exploitation and ill-treatment of women in the film industry.
Well-known actors Revathi and Rima Kallingal, screenwriter Deedi Damodaran and editor Bina Paul Venugopal were among those who visited the CM at his office in the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. Later Revathi told reporters that the WCC had expressed concern over the safety of the women who had deposed before the Hema Committee. The Justice Hema Committee had studied the working conditions of the women in the Malayalam film industry.
"We requested the CM to take action for the privacy and security of the women who had appeared before the committee.Details of these women should not be made public, we approached the CM as we are really worried about their safety," said Revathi, according to media reports.
The Kerala High Court today directed the state government to hand over the unredacted version of Justice Hema Committee Report, which disclosed large- scale sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry, to the Special Investigating Team (SIT) to probe offences disclosed in the report.
The report, handed over to the state back in 2019, also revealed other issues faced by women in cinema, like gender discrimination, lack of safety in the workplace, insufficient basic facilities, wage disparities etc. The DGP was given a copy of the report in February 2021.
Later, Kallingal told reporters that they wanted to bring all stakeholders in the industry together. However, she and other WCC members were reluctant to divulge any other details about their meeting with the CM.
Significantly, the WCC representatives met the chief minister a day after the Kerala High Court pulled up the Left government in the state saying its inaction on the Justice K Hema Committee report was "alarmingly lethargic".
A special division bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and C S Sudha said on Tuesday 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 inputs from agencies)
