Mumbai: Till people in power continue to shield criminals, no movement or report will be able to bring about change, said actor Tanushree Dutta after the release of the Justice Hema Committee report, which exposed the shocking harassment and sexual exploitation faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.
Dutta, who had accused actor Nana Patekar of sexual harassment in 2018, sparking what has been dubbed as 'India's #MeToo movement', said she is still awaiting justice. Patekar has denied the allegations repeatedly. The actor, also a former beauty queen, expressed solidarity with the women who came forward for the expansive Justice Hema Committee report, made public on Tuesday.
The panel was formed after the 2017 actress assault case involving actor Dileep to study issues of sexual harassment and gender inequality in Malayalam cinema. "This seems to be a theme of the #MeToo accused, like they portray a decent image in front of society and (when) their image breaks, their ego cannot take it. I feel for the Kerala victim(s) deeply. Nothing will happen with these reports because women still continue to be attacked and exploited."
"It doesn't matter in this country who you are -- be it Miss India, an actress, educated or accomplished person. As long as people in power try to shield these criminals, no movement, and nobody can do much about the issue. There is this committee report, there was the Vishaka committee, and there are so many reports and committees being made, but how do you follow the system when the law and order is so corrupt and illegally earned money is used to bribe the system?" Dutta told PTI in an interview.
Vishaka guidelines, which were formulated by the Supreme Court in 1997, make it mandatory for organisations, private or public, to establish a mechanism for the redressal of sexual harassment complaints. Dutta, in 2018, alleged that Patekar had touched her inappropriately on the pretext of showing her dance steps on the sets of the 2009 film Horn Ok Pleassss.
She had filed a complaint against Patekar, choreographer Ganesh Acharya, director Rakesh Sarang and the producer of the film. According to Dutta, she had shared the names of 14 witnesses, but the police didn't take statements from any of them and tried to attach a B summary report, which means the police don't have enough evidence to charge or try an accused. She said she fought against it.
"My witnesses told me they got threatening calls from PCO and no police ever contacted them for a statement. One male witness ran away to his village, one guy went to the Middle East, and one female witness never came out of fear. After five years, the court date has come for just our protest petition, it's next month. Five years just to keep the case open! When will I get justice?" she added.
The former actor -- who said she has held on to faith for support -- claimed she has been followed and surveilled by unknown groups of men everywhere she went in the last three years. "In 2022, I met with an accident in Ujjain when somebody had cut (off) the brakes of the auto in which I was travelling. It happened not once but twice to rule out any coincidence," claimed Dutta, saying she has undergone "mental and psychological harassment of another level". "I'm someone's daughter too, do I not have the right to live and feel safe in this country?" she asked.
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