Debutant Malayalam filmmaker held in rape case

Thiruvananthapuram: Adebutant Malayalam filmmaker has been arrested from the shooting location of his first film on charges of raping a woman multiple times on the pretext of romance.

Liju Krishna, who helms the upcoming Nivin Pauly and Manju Warrier-starrer ”Padavettu”, was taken into custody while the shooting of the movie was in progress in Kannur, his hometown, on Sunday.

Based on the complaint filed by the woman, who was reportedly associated with the movie in various aspects of its making, a case was registered against Krishna last week and a local court here remanded him to judicial custody after police recorded his arrest the other day.

Relevant sections of IPC including rape and unnatural offenses were slapped against the filmmaker, police said.

As per the complaint, registered with the Kakkanad police, he had sexually abused the complainant several times in various places for two years after befriending her on social media.

The survivor, through the Facebook page of Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), a pro-women outfit in the Malayalam film industry, recently gave a detailed account of the physical, mental and professional torture she had to suffer from Krishna.

Alleging that she got pregnant and was forced to undergo an abortion, she also accused him of portraying the relationship as a consensual affair, which caused her ”constant mental and physical stress”, destroying her self-esteem and her desire to continue living.

”There was no official grievance redressal cell (IC) in the production, where I could complain about the physical and mental and sexual abuse that director Liju Krishna put me through for two years – with an emphasis on assault, so I tried to inform the film’s team but to no avail,” the survivor further said.

She also said that Krishna’s cruel and inhuman act of forcing physical and sexual acts on her without her consent had caused her ”great pain and mental anguish”.

Extending all support in her fight, the WCC has said it stands with the survivor and salutes her courage in speaking up. Urging other film bodies to take serious note of the incident, it also wanted his membership in all film bodies be suspended and bar him from working in the Malayalam film industry until the verdict.

WCC also reiterated the need for the immediate implementation of the POSH Act on Malayalam film productions and a zero-tolerance policy to sexual harassment across the industry. Meanwhile, the shooting of ”Padavettu”, produced by actor Sunny Wayne, was halted in the wake of the developments.