Kerala SIT pauses Hema Committee probe citing lack of testimonies
The investigation will resume if and when the women give their statements, said the police.
The Special Investigation Team formed by the Kerala government to investigate allegations of sexual abuse in the Malayalam film industry has said that it was closing all cases in the matter, citing the reluctance of women to proceed, the Deccan Herald reported on Monday.
After the release of the Justice Hema committee report on sexual harassment and gender inequality in August, several women in the Malayalam film industry had made allegations of sexual misconduct by their male colleagues over the years.
In response, the state government had formed a seven-member panel of high-ranking police officers to investigate the allegations of sexual abuse.
A total of 120 first information reports were registered, The News Minute reported. Of these, 35 cases were registered by the police based on statements given to the Hema committee. The other 85 cases were filed based on allegations made on social media and statements given by the women.
Chargesheets were filed in 26 cases.
Twenty cases have been closed and the remaining will be closed soon, the Deccan Herald reported.
The Special Investigation Team informed courts that it was unable to proceed with the cases because the women were not giving statements. The investigation will resume if and when they give their statements, Onmanorama reported.
Also read:
- Hema committee report on Malayalam cinema: ‘Incident by incident, many icons started crumbling’
- Interview: What the Kerala film industry needs to do to fix its problems
