The Kerala government has apprised the Kerala High Court that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to probe the instances of sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry, as revealed in the Hema Committee Report, has dropped all 35 cases.
The Counsel appearing for the State informed the Special Bench of Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice CS Sudha that the SIT had to close all 35 cases as none of the victims involved in the alleged crimes came forward to give statements.
The state government assured the High Court that the victims were provided with all the necessary support.
The High Court observed that it did not want to compel anyone.
The Kerala government had constituted the Justice K Hema Committee in 2017 following a petition by the ‘Women in Cinema Collective’ to study issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. The report was made public in August 2024, albeit in a redacted form to protect the privacy of witnesses. It had alleged that there was widespread sexual harassment in the film industry.
Subsequently, the state government formed an SIT to probe all criminal cases tied to the revelations in the report and a Special Bench was constituted by the High Court to hear all matters arising out of the report.
During the last proceedings, the High Court had asked Kerala Advocate General (AG) Gopalakrishna Kurup about the status of the legislation proposed to address issues in the Malayalam film industry. The Bench said it hoped that the proposed law would not merely contain provisions lifted from the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
AG Kurup assured the Court that a draft of the legislation would be finalised after consulting all stakeholders during the film conclave, scheduled to be conducted in August 2025.
The High Court listed the matter for further hearing after the conclave.