Kerala Actor Assault Case: Govt mulls law to protect rights of women in Malayalam cinema

Kerala government is considering a new legislation to protect the rights of women in Malayalam movie industry. Law Minister P Rajeev announced the decision after having a discussion with members of Women's Collective in Cinema (WCC). The WCC has asked the minister to take their suggestion before formulating any such legislation.

Ernakulam: The Kerala government is considering a new legislation to protect the rights of women in the Malayalam movie industry, Law Minister P Rajeev has said. He was talking to media after having a discussion with members of Women's Collective in Cinema (WCC).

Members of the WCC met the minister, requesting him to consult them and take their suggestions before formulating any such legislation. In response to that, Rajeev said that a three-member committee is now studying the recommendations and observations submitted to the government by the Justice Hema Committee and once the government gets their recommendation, it would consider comprehensive legislation to solve the problems faced by women in cinema.

The WCC members said that they pin their hopes on the government to study the recommendations of the Justice Hema Committee and to speed up the legislation process.

WCC came into existence in 2017, after an actress was brutally assaulted and raped allegedly by actor Dileep. The collective, comprising 18 women in the Malayalam movie industry, stood strong with the survivor, who came out in the open and decided to fight.

WCC was registered as a society on November 1, 2017, and since then it has been fighting for equal rights, against all forms of exploitation of women and patriarchy in the Malayalam movie industry.

READ:Kerala Actress Rape Case: HC postpones hearing in actor Dileep's anticipatory bail plea

Following their persistent campaign, Kerala Government had constituted a committee, headed by Justice Hema to study the problems faced by women in the Malayalam movie industry. The committee was constituted in 2018 and it had conducted several sittings with members of WCC and with other women members of the industry.

The Hema Committee submitted its report in 2019. However, to date, the contents of the committee report have not been made public. Recently, actor Parvathy Theruvoth, who is an active member of WCC, had spoken out against the delay in making the contents of the report public.

Now, the Kerala Government has appointed a three-member panel to examine the findings and recommendation of the Justice Hema Committee.