The law enforcement officials in Thiruvananthapuram are grappling with 35-odd FIRs stemming from the findings of the Justice Hema Committee report on sexual violence and gender inequality in the Malayalam film industry, which had created a storm earlier this year. Registered under a court directive, these cases are not making much headway mainly because of the reluctance of victims to pursue legal action.
The FIRs were filed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up to address serious allegations of molestation, attempted rape and rape. But since many incidents cited in the cases date back to the early 2000s, the passage of time has left little circumstantial evidence, limiting investigations to statements of survivors, which are insufficient for further legal proceedings. Many of the victims, who were starting out then, have gone on to become popular actors or have retired and quit the industry. Whatever the reasons, the lack of willingness of the victims to come forward to pursue their case has come as a major roadblock for the police to take the probe to its logical conclusion.
Amid the survivors, actress Mala Parvathy, who testified before the Committee, has sought the intervention of the Supreme Court to quash the SIT’s probe as, according to her, the investigation is actually harassing innocent individuals.