Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), August 31: Kerala police have opened a second sexual assault case against film director Ranjith following a complaint from an aspiring actor.
The new case, registered in Kozhikode, comes in the wake of the recent Hema Committee report's release.
The complainant, who is a male actor, alleges that Ranjith forced him to strip and sexually assaulted him in 2012. According to the complaint, Ranjith invited the actor to a Bangalore hotel for an audition, where the assault reportedly occurred. The actor initially thought it was part of the audition process but was offered money the next morning. The actor has since reported the incident to the Director General of Police (DGP), and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) will be looking into it.
Earlier this week, Bengali actress Sreelekha Mitra also filed a complaint with the Kochi City Police against Ranjith, just a day after he stepped down as chairman of the Kerala State Chalachithra Academy. This complaint has led to another case being registered against him.
The recent public release of a redacted version of the Justice Hema Committee report highlighted disturbing accounts of harassment, exploitation, and mistreatment of women in the Malayalam film industry.
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