Director's sexual harassment: Srilekha's complaint to the police

Srilekha Mitra, a film actress from West Bengal, India, has filed a written complaint with the police about the director's allegations of sexual harassment.

On Monday (August 26), she filed a written complaint of sexual harassment against Malayali director Ranjith Balakrishnan with the Kochi City Police Commissioner.

Indian media Anandabazar Patrika wrote Srilekha's complaint that she was sexually harassed by director Ranjith during the 2009 audition for 'Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha'.

Recently, the Hema Commission has submitted a report based on allegations of torture or harassment of female artists in the Malayalam film industry. Since then the movement has started in the film world. A few days ago, Srilekha Mitra, a well-known face of the Bengali film world, had accused Malayali director Ranjith Balakrishnan of harassment in the media. Srilekha said, 'During the audition, Ranjith called me to his bedroom to narrate the story of the film. I thought he was calling to avoid the crowd. The room was quite dark. I was standing on the balcony of the house talking to a cinematographer on the phone. Suddenly the director started playing with my bangles. I was uncomfortable. Because, he did not have any friendship with me. But I couldn't be sure. After that he started touching my neck and hair. Immediately I left that room.'

Despite initially denying the allegations, the director resigned from Kerala's government body 'Kerala Film Academy' within 24 hours.

In addition to opening his mouth to the media, this time Srilekha took legal action. The actress said, 'Since it is a crime, I have filed a written complaint as per the guidelines of the apex court. Filed my complaint by email.'

Bangladesh /KH