In Kerala, a state in southern India, a police investigation into allegations of sexual assault and harassment against a number of well-known actors and directors has intensified national concern about violence against women.
The claims coincide with nationwide physician protests against the rape and killing of a medical student in Kolkata, eastern India, which have resulted in hospital strikes and outrage on social media.
When female performers complained to the police in Kerala, accusing their male coworkers of sexual harassment and abuse, the inquiry got underway. The charges were made one week after a panel constituted by the government documented incidents of discrimination and sexual harassment that had previously occurred in Kerala’s Malayalam film industry.
The south zone police inspector-general of Kerala, Sparjan Kumar, told Reuters that nine complaints have been made by police against various members of the state’s well-known film industry, including a director and seasoned actors.
“We have so far received 16 complaints from women in the film industry. We are examining all the complaints and taking follow-up action,” Kumar, who heads a seven-member special police team probing the allegations, said.
Kerala and other southern Indian states have thriving local language film industries that are supported by a large local population, and they exist independently of Bollywood, the Hindi language.
Similar claims of sexual assault and harassment have previously rocked the Bollywood and local language film industries, but not much has been done about them.
