Malayalam star Mukesh rape case: Actress withdraws complaint, claims ‘no government protection’

Last update:November 23, 2024, 09:40 IST

The complainant also alleged “negligence” on the part of the state government and said she was “mentally exhausted”.

Earlier, women activists had also asked Mukesh to quit his MLA post on “moral grounds”.

A 51-year-old Malayalam actress, who has leveled allegations of sexual abuse against several male actors, including CPI(M) MLA M Mukesh, on Friday said she is not keen to pursue her complaints because of “ lack of support and protection from Kerala. government”.

The complainant also alleged “negligence” on the part of the state government and said she was “mentally exhausted” and therefore did not want to take the complaints further.

“I would like to tell everyone that because of the government’s indifference and the lack of protection for a woman who came forward like this, I have suffered more than I can handle. I am mentally exhausted. They do not help or protect a woman. Therefore, I do not want to follow the cases. Not because I compromised with anyone,” she told reporters.

She alleged that she was booked in a POCSO case following her complaints against actors including Maniyanpilla Raju and Idavela Babu and the government did nothing to protect her.

“I am innocent. I want justice. I want the POCSO case against me to be fully and speedily investigated. If I kill myself, the government will be responsible for it,” she said.

Later in the day, she reiterated in a Facebook post what she told reporters in the morning.

In the social media post, the female actor said, “Today, I plan to take the difficult decision to withdraw all the cases including those against the MLA due to lack of justice in my POCSO case. Despite my pleas, the police failed to investigate thoroughly, leaving me feeling helpless and betrayed.”

She also claimed she was the target of “relentless social bullying” which had a “devastating impact” on her mental health as malicious rumors labeled her a sex mafia broker.

“I stand firm, refusing to be silenced. My request is clear: solve the POCSO case first, then I will proceed with the other cases. Justice must be done. I urge the authorities to take immediate action to ensure that no one else suffers like I did. The POCSO Act 2012 is in place to protect our children. Time to see it maintained,” she said in her post.

The Muvattupuzha police had registered the case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) against the woman actor based on a complaint filed by her relative.

According to police, the incident took place in 2014. The complainant alleged that she was a minor at the time of the incident and that the actor was running a sex racket. She alleged that the actress was running a sex racket and took her to Chennai for a film audition, where she was paraded in front of many people for sexual favors.

The actor vehemently denied the allegations and claimed that the woman’s relative owed him some money and these allegations were meant to divert attention from her complaint against the high-profile actors.

The actress’ allegations against film industry professionals came in the wake of the release of the Justice Hema Committee report, which revealed cases of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry, prompting calls for action against the culprits.

The Justice Hema Committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the actress’ assault case in 2017.

The full report was submitted to the Kerala High Court, which ordered that it be handed over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was set up to investigate allegations of sexual abuse in the film industry.

Subsequently, 26 FIRs were registered by the SIT in connection with the disclosures in the report.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)