Eight years on, all the accused in the case are out of jail; the invincible hero is back in the movies and gung-ho, while the final judgement is awaited
Will justice delayed end up as justice denied?
Eight years into the sensational sexual assault of an actor in Kerala that ripped open the nefarious underbelly of the Malayalam film industry, the much-awaited judgement in the case is as elusive as when it all began.
With misogyny and sexual abuse charges raining down on several big names in the industry following the state-appointed committee’s probe, the case that triggered it all off, ironically, lies buried in the dust and noise.
The trial is on at the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court. But there is a sense of déjà vu, with court proceedings suspended time and again in the past following the twists and turns in the case.
All accused out of jail
February 17, 2017. That calamitous Friday night scarred the conscience of Kerala following the heinous act of sexual violence inflicted on the celebrity actress going about her work in Kochi city.
To make matters worse, figuring among the key accused was a leading actor then with a string of hits — the needle of suspicion, rightly or wrongly, rests on him for plotting the crime.
The road to justice often defies logic. Eight years on, all the accused in the case are out of jail. The male actor was out on bail after three months in jail with a court ruling that his continued custody was not tenable.
The argument that he orchestrated the assault was losing tract. All evidence was circumstantial and could not establish his involvement in the crime, the court observed. The invincible hero is back in the movies and gung-ho. The final judgement is awaited.
Also read: Hema report effect: AMMA’s fall was inevitable but therein lies chance for change
A blot on our collective conscience
Let’s pause and spare a thought for the distraught woman who was abducted and sexually abused in her vehicle by a gang of goons. She was stripped of her modesty, with everything captured voyeuristically on camera on orders. An act so inhuman that it will remain a blot on our collective psyche for a long time to come.
“I have been wronged. My dignity has been robbed and I want it back,” she declared in an interview to Mojo Story in 2022. And that is the leitmotif of her struggle for justice to this day. It has galvanised her to metamorphose from victim into the gritty survivor of the insidious sexual assault that was allegedly masterminded by her oppressor who harboured grudges against her.
Eight years is a long time for a case to lie in abeyance in the chambers of justice. Yet, unmindful of how long it takes, the tenacious survivor soldiers on in her lonely battle to bring her perpetrators to book.
The calculations of her oppressors to end her acting career had clearly backfired. The “quotation” (as the hired goons confessed to the cringing woman before assaulting her) was accomplished, but the lid had flipped on the conspiracy.
Threats and temptations
Five years into the debacle, on January 10, 2022, embittered but resolute, the survivor upped the ante by revealing her identity to the world in an Instagram post. The toxic cross-examinations that had broken her “into a million pieces” and the venomous trolls that had reduced her to an object of derision did not set her back. Neither did she cower in fear of her opponents flexing their muscles.
Giving the struggle her face, she said in the post, “For five years my name and identity have been suppressed under the weight of the assault inflicted on me…To see justice prevail, to get the wrongdoers punished and ensure no one else goes through such an ordeal again, I shall continue this journey…”
According to media reports, the survivor’s lawyer was getting death threats after she took up the case. And she said her client was offered crores to reach a settlement. The accused reportedly offered big money to witnesses to turn hostile in court; some were threatened with dire consequences, and murder plots were hatched against police officials obstructing their path.
Also read: Hema report fallout: ’90s actor accuses Tamil director of using her as ‘sex slave’
The irony of Malayalam cinema
The contrast cannot get starker than this. On the one hand, the Malayalam film industry is feted internationally for its well-crafted films, which place a premium on the right social messaging. And on the other, the very same industry has much to answer for what goes on within. It has come under the scanner for charges of gross sexual misconduct and the dehumanisation of women. The sheen has peeled off.
Compelled by her own painful experience, the survivor in the assault case became the prime mover for calling out the male hegemony in the industry. Taking the cue from her, women from across the length and breadth of Mollywood were emboldened to stand up and speak. From junior artists to women technicians, producers, directors and actors, they all spoke up on how they were asked to sexually compromise to get a toehold in the industry.
The state-appointed Justice Hema Committee, after a thorough investigation into the rot and speaking to several harassed women behind closed doors, brought out their findings in a detailed report made public. That opened a Pandora’s box on the exploitation of women in the industry.
“Compromise” and “adjust”
The probe panel observed that “compromise” and “adjust” (to the demands for sexual favours) were two words that cropped up time and again in the depositions. The report further revealed that if a woman did not fall in line, the power mafia in the industry would blacklist her.
To quote from its pages: “…Women in Malayalam cinema are reluctant to speak about the sexual harassment they face…they are afraid that if found to have divulged information they would be banned from work in cinema and subjected to harassment…”
The assaulted actor faced an “unwritten ban” in the Malayalam film industry. She was losing out on work as a result of the personal vendetta waged by the accused male actor. When she spoke out against the ostracization, she was overruled. Even AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes), the apex body of the film fraternity that looks into these matters, turned the other way.
Also read: Hema report fallout: New Malayalam film body championing change, inclusivity launched
A lonely but courageous fight
Toughened, she did not crumble under intimidation. Recalling the time when she faced a battery of vitriolic defence lawyers in court, she said in an interview, “That was one moment when I felt the whole universe was stacked against me.”
She felt her inner strength was draining. But she stood strong. Upholding her is the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) — the sisterhood in the film industry that is her lifeline.
The WCC is a pioneering initiative by a handful of women in the Malayalam film industry trying to stem the rot and bring the women on an equal footing with their male colleagues. The members have solicited the state government’s help in their clean-up drive.
The pawn and the king
The Accused No. 1 in the police case — the man who abducted and raped the woman actor — was released on bail after an incarceration of seven-and-a-half years.
By his own admission, he was a pawn in the crime, paid for carrying out orders. After the Kerala courts turned down his bail plea, the Supreme Court ordered his release in September last year. The apex court ruled that with the trial unlikely to end soon, it was not right to imprison him longer. Out from jail, he is leaving no stone unturned to nail the accused actor.
Strangely, the law is a double-edged sword. As someone argued, “It is not about the truth. It is about who tells their story better in court.”
Let us hope that in this case, the truth outweighs the semantics in the trial court. That the real culprits meet their nemesis.
The survivor remains hopeful. Picking up the pieces, she has moved on to a better life.
(The Federal seeks to present views and opinions from all sides of the spectrum. The information, ideas or opinions in the articles are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Federal)
