A case was registered by the Kerala Police on Monday against Malayalam movie director ranjith following the complaint of sexual abuse by Bengali actress Sreelekha Mitra.
IGP & Commissioner of Police S Syamsundar, “Received a complaint from the victim in the abuse case regarding director Ranjith. A crime in the north police station has been registered under section 354, and the investigation will be as per the mandate to be decided by the special investigation team constituted by the government for the same.”
On Monday, Bengali actress Sreelekha Mitra filed a complaint with the Kochi City Police against Ranjith, a day after he resigned as the chairman of the Kerala State Chalachithra Academy.
The complaint follows allegations of sexual misconduct that Mitra made public recently.
In an e-mail sent to the Kochi City Police Commissioner, Mitra detailed an incident from 2009 when she was in Kochi for discussions about a role in the movie Palerimanikkam, which Ranjith was directing.
Mitra claimed that during the discussion, Ranjith “clutched” her hand and attempted to touch other parts of her body with sexual intent.
“I was invited to act in a film ‘Palerimanikkam’ directed by Ranjith. As part of the discussion, I was called to the flat in which Sri Ranjith was staying at Kaloor Kadavanthra, Kochi. During the course of the discussions, he clutched my hand and later on attempted to spread his hand to other parts of my body with sexual intention. Realising that his intentions were not regarding the film and with sexual intent, I had to escape from the flat and return to the hotel where I was staying. My bitter experience was shared with scriptwriter Sri Joshy Joseph the next day. As I was not given the travelling ticket for my return journey, I was compelled to seek the help of Sri Joshy Joseph,” the actress wrote in her complaint.