Tamil actors' body to ban sexual offenders for five years from film industry

Chennai: The 'Nadigar Sangam', the union representing film, television, and stage actors in Tamil Nadu, has passed a resolution following a meeting of its Gender Sensitisation and Internal Committee on Wednesday.

The resolution said that the Gender Sensitisation and Internal Committee would provide all legal help to the victims of sexual harassment in the Tamil film industry.

It also said that If a woman comes forward with a complaint regarding sexual harassment or other related offences, it must be thoroughly investigated and if the complaint is found to be true, a recommendation would be made to the producers' association to ban the perpetrators for five years from the film industry.

According to the resolution, a warning would initially be issued to the alleged preparators after which action will follow.

The Committee said the victims can register their complaints with the actors' body through a dedicated phone number that has already been established while a new email ID has also been created for the purpose.

The Nadigar Sangam also said that it would provide full support to those who want to lodge complaints against contents in YouTube channels.

In its statement, the actors' body advised the victims to first approach the Committee before speaking to the media directly about their complaints.

It may be recalled that after the Hema Committee report revealing rampant sexual exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry was made public by the Kerala government, several complaints have been lodged against leading film personalities of the state.

Kerala Police have registered FIRs against popular Malayalam actors Mukesh, who is also a sitting CPI-M MLA, Siddik, Jayasurya, Edavela Babu, Baburaj, along with directors Ranjith and V.K. Prakash.

Following the developments in the neighbouring state, similar allegations were raised by some Tamil women actors, prompting the Nadigar Sangam to hold a meeting of its Gender Sensitisation and Internal Committee.

Popular Tamil actor and Nadigar Sangam General Secretary Vishal told mediapersons that if any woman has complaints of sexual abuse, she can reach out to the Committee which will ensure that justice is delivered.

IANS