The 17-member executive committee of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists, including its president and actor Mohanlal, resigned from their posts on Tuesday amid a growing number of sexual misconduct allegations against its members, The Indian Express reported.
Several women in the Malayalam film industry have spoken out about their experiences of being sexually harassed and assaulted by male colleagues in recent days, after the release of the Justice Hema committee report on sexual harassment and gender inequality on August 19.
In a statement on Tuesday, the association said that the “current executive committee of AMMA [Association of Malayalam Movie Artists], taking into consideration its moral responsibility, is stepping down”.
The association said it would conduct a general body meeting within two months to elect a new governing body. It also said that its existing governing body would continue for the time being as an ad-hoc entity to coordinate office matters and ensure the distribution of various welfare measures to its members.
“We hope that AMMA will get a new leadership to renew as well as strengthen it,” the statement read. “Thanks to everyone, for criticising and correcting.”
On Monday, actor Minu Muneer levelled allegations of sexual misconduct and physical and verbal assault against several co-actors and technicians in the industry, including actor and Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA M Mukesh.
Muneer filed a sexual misconduct complaint against Mukesh and six others on Tuesday.
Mukesh has denied the allegations, describing them as “blackmail tactics”, reported The Hindu.
A junior artist also accused Baburaj, an actor-producer in the Malayalam film industry, of raping her in 2019.
On Sunday, senior actor Siddique resigned as the general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists after an actor accused him of raping her when she was younger.
Malayalam director Ranjith also resigned as the chairman of the state-run Kerala Chalachitra Academy, days after actor Sreelekha Mitra accused him of sexually harassing her in 2009. The police filed a case against Ranjith on Monday.
On Sunday, the Kerala government formed a seven-member panel of high-ranking police officers to investigate the allegations of sexual abuse against several prominent members of the industry.
Also read:
Hema committee report on Malayalam cinema: ‘Incident by incident, many icons started crumbling’
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