The Kerala film industry reacted sharply to the ongoing “naming and shaming” of their colleague who dared to file charges against her “rapists”.
Despite a police advisory against revealing her identity, a newswire agency named the victim, a famous actor of Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films, which many online news portals soon picked up.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also made light of the incident saying, “We don’t know what happened between them. But such things should not have happened”.
Kairali People TV, owned by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), had to apologise after public outrage for its reporting of the crime.
Many of the actor’s co-stars took to Facebook to vent their anger at the delay in arresting the culprits, despite immediately reporting the crime to police and the continued shaming of the victim.
Actor Prithviraj said the horrifying news was “misreported and sensationalised”. “As disturbing as it was, I refrained from saying something on what happened to one of the most beautiful girls I know because I knew whatever I or anyone among our fraternity say, will only be fodder to click baits and TRP mongering,” he wrote.
“As a man who has to share the responsibility of a society that bears this shame, I hang my head!”
Prithviraj said he was supposed to have started work with the victim in a week, but she said she was pulling out of the film. “I know this girl..I know how brave she is...it’s affected her enough to make her stay away from what she loves the most...” Rima Kallingal was harsher in her criticism addressing the Kairali channel chief, who is also media adviser to the chief minister. “Go to hell Kairali TV!..if you don’t know what is happening on your channel you should....resign!” she posted.
“When a human being is going through the biggest horror of her life you had the time and nerve to find sensational stories for your air time (sic)?” Actress Manju Warrier said she and her friends had spent “a lot of time with the actor” on Saturday and she appeared bold even she was yet to recover from the horrifying ordeal.
Referring to the brutal rape and killing of Soumya and Jisha, Manju Warrier reminded the authorities that her colleague was not attacked at an isolated house or in empty train, but on the busy streets of the city. “Whenever there are such incidents we launch a hashtag campaign. That’s not enough. I’ll be at the forefront of the fight to end this.”
The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) held a protest meeting in the city.
“We are in a denial mode and practising a culture of silencing,” said actor-activist T Parvathy who exposed another case of gang-rape by a ruling party leader recently. “We bring culprits to book only if they belong to other states. Safe public space remains elusive for women,” Parvathy said.
She listed a series of attacks on women travelling alone at night in which police failed to take action.
“Such acts should not only be condemned vehemently by one and all, but exemplary punishment should be handed out to these criminals who are worse than animals,” said actor Mohanlal. “It’s time we stop being candleholder and candle lighting sympathisers and ensure that the law of the land is strengthened in such way that nobody even dares to contemplate such acts, leave alone commit it. My heart goes out to her in this time of distress.”
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