The Kochi city police have initiated the procedures for handing over the case registered by the North Police against director and former chairman of Kerala Chalachitra Academy Ranjith on a petition by a Bengali actress to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed for investigating the sexual harassment allegations being levelled by women in the Malayalam film industry in the wake of the K. Hema Committee report.
The police registered the case on Monday after the survivor emailed a formal complaint to the District Police Chief (Kochi City) regarding an alleged molestation by the beleaguered actor-director Ranjith in 2009 after she was invited to act in his then forthcoming movie Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha.
The alleged act, the complaint said, took place in a flat near Kaloor-Kadavanthra region where he was staying then in the guise of holding discussions regarding the movie.
โThe city police no longer have any role in the investigation of the case since everything, including recording of statements, is to be carried out by the SIT,โ said city police sources.
The police had registered the case under Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code, which was in vogue at the time of the commission of the crime.
In her complaint, the survivor said that she had shared her harrowing experience with scriptwriter Joshy Joseph the next day and that she was compelled to seek his help as she was not given the ticket for her return journey.
Meanwhile, two other women who claimed to be survivors of sexual harassment by men in the film industry reportedly send a clutch of petitions to the SIT.
One of them claimed to have submitted seven different petitions against as many alleged abusers and another former junior artiste claimed to have emailed petitions against two persons.
