MUMBAI: Indian film industry has been rocked by shocking revelations after the Hema Committee report, detailing widespread sexual abuse within the Malayalam film industry. In the wake of the report, Bollywood filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma took to social media to question whether the rest of Bollywood is also covering up such crimes. According to BBC, resignations, allegations and police complaints have been dominating media and shaking up a busy industry in the southern Indian state of Kerala since last week.
The state has been seeing a flood of sexual abuse accusations against some top male stars since the Hema Committee report that looked into problems faced by women in the film industry was released last week. According to BBC, the 290-page report detailed the problems faced by women in Indian cinema, including rampant sexual harassment and poor working conditions.
Report slams film industry in India
Since its release, many women, some of whom have now given up acting – have publicly spoken regarding facing sexual attacks and harassment in the Indian film industry. The BBC reported that over a dozen police complaints have been registered against some male actors.
BBC cited actor Mala Parvathy as saying that this is just the tip of the iceberg and only a few have spoken up till now. The actor said that more serious issues may emerge soon.
The responses to the first-of-its-kind report are being keenly watched by people in India’s many film industries, including Bollywood. Earlier, during the #MeToo movement, many women had made sexual harassment accusations against actors and filmmakers in India but few of these have been probed.
Following the release of the report, the first public accusation came from Bengali star Sreelekha Mitra, who accused director Ranjith of sexually harassing her in the past. He has dismissed the allegations but resigned as chairman of the state’s prestigious motion picture academy. Mitra has also filed a police complaint against him.
Many of the other echo some of the disclosures made by unnamed women in the Hema committee report that they were repeatedly asked to “adjust” and “compromise” in exchange for opportunities.
Minu Muneer told BBC Hindi that she has detailed instances of sexual misconduct by others in the industry, including prominent actor and lawmaker Mukesh. One actress has accused prominent actor Siddique of raping her in 2016 as well as filed a police complaint against him. The report, which was submitted in 2019, was issued only last week following nearly five years of delay.
Most Dangerous Country for Women
India is being considered one of the dangerous countries for the women as recently, thousands of women took to the streets across several Indian cities in overnight marches, protesting against the pervasive lack of safety for women in the country. This surge of demonstrations was ignited by the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor, which has sparked outrage across India. This tragic event has rekindled memories of the 2012 Delhi gang rape, a case that shocked India and led to widespread calls for change. India has seen huge rise in crimes against women in 2022, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Doctors in overcrowded and underfunded government hospitals have long voiced concerns about their safety, citing overwork, underpayment, and frequent violence from frustrated patients and their families.
