Kochi: The Kerala Women's Commission Saturday decided to conduct a probe into the alleged anti-women remarks made by Malayalam actor and Lok Sabha MP Innocent.
Commission chairperson M C Josephine said that taking into account the media reports on the alleged remarks made recently, the Kerala Womens Commission has on its own decided to conduct a probe into the matter.
She said the commission director has been directed to conduct the investigation.
During an interaction with the media recently on the issue of abduction and assault of a south Indian actress, Innocent, who is the president of Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), had said the "casting couch"--the practice of giving roles in exchange for sexual favours-- was a thing of the past in the Malayalam film industry.
Responding to a query on the issue, the AMMA president had said such things can happen if a person was willing.
In a Facebook post, Womens Collective in Cinema (WCC), an outfit of women members of the Malayalam film industry, had stated that they "totally disagreed" with Innocents remark that the "casting couch" practice was a thing of the past.
The WCC had on July 5 claimed that "casting couch" existed in the industry and sought a probe by the Kerala Womens Commission.
National Womens Commission member Sushma Sahu had criticised Innocent for his "anti-women" remarks, terming it "shameful."
The Kerala Womens Commission had yesterday registered a case in connection with the derogatory comments made against the actress who was abducted and molested in a moving car earlier this year.
The case was registered on a complaint by Womens Collective in Cinema (WCC) and Women lawyers Association.
The NWC has directed the state DGP to file a report within two days on the attack against the actress.
Six persons, including Pulsar Suni, have been arrested in connection with the abduction case.
The popular actress, who has worked in Tamil and Telugu films, was abducted and allegedly molested inside her car for two hours by the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on February 17 and later escaped.