Women in Cinema Collective members meet Kerala CM Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: The representatives of Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday and held discussions amidst raging controversies over the explosive revelations in the Justice K Hema Committee report which sheds light into alleged exploitation and ill-treatment of women in the film industry.

Well-known actors Revathi and Rima Kallingal, screen writer Deedi Damodaran and editor Bina Paul Venugopal were among those who visited the CM at his office in the Secretariat here.

Later, Kallingal told reporters that they wanted to bring all stakeholders in the industry together. However, she and other WCC members were reluctant to divulge any other details about their meeting with the CM.

Significantly, the WCC representatives met the chief minister a day after the Kerala High Court pulled up the Left government in the state saying its inaction on the Justice K Hema Committee report was “alarmingly lethargic”.

A special division bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and C S Sudha said on Tuesday that the government got the report over four years ago and ought to have immediately responded and directed that the full report be handed over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to take requisite action in accordance with law.

The Justice K Hema Committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case and its report revealing instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry.

Following the allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation cropping up against several actors and directors in the wake of the report being made public, the state government on August 25 announced the establishment of a seven-member special investigation team to probe them.