Thiruvananthapuram: Nearly five years after the Justice Hema Committee report was delivered to the government, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced on Tuesday that his government is giving serious consideration to the suggestions made in the report.
Speaking at a news conference in Thiruvananthapuram, Vijayan stated that his government is taking into consideration the committee's suggestions, which included creating a tribunal and drafting a comprehensive cinema law, the Indian Express reported.
His comments followed heavy criticism of the government for allegedly neglecting the report's findings, which detailed systemic discrimination and sexual harassment against women in the Malayalam film industry. Neither the committee's recommendations nor the findings of the report were implemented after it was sent to the government in December 2019. The opposition claims that in order to protect those who planned to abuse women in films, the administration withheld the report.
Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan wanted the government to appoint a team of senior IPS officers to look into the crimes disclosed in the report and punish the guilty, irrespective of their wealth or social status. He accused the CM of committing a crime by keeping the report's findings confidential and failing to act upon them.
“The findings in the redacted report are shocking and a blot on the Malayalam film industry. Some instances of abuse warrant prosecution under the provisions of the POSCO. The report is just the iceberg’s tip,” The Hindu reported Satheesan as saying.
The three-member commission led by Justice K. Hema prepared the report, which was released to the public on Monday. It exposed the existence of criminal groups that control the entire Malayalam film industry. The report also revealed disturbing details regarding the industry's widespread practice of sexually abusing women and the impunity enjoyed by the males who commit these crimes.