Hema Committee Report: Kerala police to drop cases as survivors hesitate to proceed legally

The Kerala Police have decided to close almost all cases registered on the basis of the Hema Committee’s findings on sexual exploitation and misogyny within the Malayalam film industry, citing the unwillingness of survivors to proceed.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted following the release of the Hema Committee Report, registered around 35 cases based on statements given by women actors to the committee regarding the harassment they faced in the film industry. So far, the SIT has filed charge sheets in 26 cases. However, it is reportedly unable to continue further investigations without survivor testimonies. Twenty cases are already reported to have been closed, with closure reports submitted to the court citing the victims’ unwillingness to proceed. The remaining cases are also likely to be closed soon, it is learnt.

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Police sources said that despite issuing notices, none of the victims were willing to proceed legally against the accused. Hence, the cases had to be closed.

The Justice Hema Committee Report had exposed shocking and harrowing details of sexual exploitation in the Malayalam film industry. It revealed distressing accounts of harassment, the casting couch, lack of privacy for women, and power groups determining roles in films.

The Hema committee was formed by the Kerala government to study the problems faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. Many women gave statements to the committee on the harassment they faced after the committee assured confidentiality.

Meanwhile, actor Parvathy Thiruvothu has sharply criticised the Kerala government for its inaction over the long-pending Hema Committee Report, calling out the administration’s failure to implement promised reforms more than five years after the report’s submission in 2019.

Taking to Instagram, Parvathy tagged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a story that read: “Now can we focus on the actual reason this committee was formed? Putting policies in place to help make regulations in the industry? What is happening with that? No rush, eh? It’s only been five and a half years since the report was submitted.”