Complaint seeks POCSO case against actor Siddique

Kochi: Actor Siddique, who recently stepped down as the general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) following sexual abuse allegations, has been named in a complaint under the POCSO Act with police. The complaint also sought a case against director Ranjith, who also resigned as Kerala Film Academy Chairman under similar allegations faced by Siddique. Police informed that they are investigating the complaint.

Following the release of the Justice Hema Committee report, which studied the issues faced by women in Malayalam cinema, particularly sexual abuse and exploitation, the Malayalam film industry witnessed a landslide of multiple women raising allegations that they were sexually exploited or were subjected to attempted sexual exploitation. In a series of allegations in the last couple of days, which started with a Bengali artist accusing director and screenwriter Ranjith, allegations were levelled against the kinds of Edavela Babu, actor Sudheesh, director Harikumar, Siddique, and actor turned politician Mukhesh.

It was actress Revathi Sampath who levelled allegations against Siddique. Following this, Siddique handed over the resignation letter to AMMA President Mohanlal. Ranjith was made to resign after Bengali actress Sreelekha Mitra alleged that the director misbehaved with her after she was invited to act in his movie “Palerimanikyam”.

According to actress Revathy Sampath, Siddique misbehaved with her and had a bad experience at a young age. She said that after she completed her Class 12, she and Siddique got to know each other through social media. Later, after a preview show of a movie at the Muscat Hotel, he called her for a discussion at the hotel. She was 21 years old when she got this invite and the actor used to call her “daughter”. But it was a trap as he harassed her sexually when she went there.

She said that whatever Siddique says is a lie and he is a number criminal. Siddique, who spoke with importance on the Hema Committee report, should look into the mirror and see the criminal he is, Sampath said, reminding me that she had raised this in 2019 itself.

She continued that she had nothing to lose, and that is why she was opening up again.