WCC Accuses TV Channel For ‘Jeopardising’ Privacy Of Actresses Who Testified Before Hema Committee

Weeks after the redacted version of the Hema Committee report was released publicly, Women in Cinema Collective, an outfit of women professionals working in the Malayalam film industry, has written an open letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan . On Monday, WCC took to its official Facebook handle seeking CM's intervention to protect the privacy of women, who have deposed in front of the Justice K Hema Committee. The outfit also alleged that a private Malayalam TV channel is telecasting reports based on the purported statements given by the women film professionals before the government-appointed panel.

'This invasion against privacy is unjust'

In the letter posted on Facebook, WCC said they were now witnessing a situation in which those statements were being dragged to an "irresponsible media trial' by the television channel. It further read that the telecasting of the private statements given by the victims raises suspicion about the intention of at least some people who have access to the Committee report. The news reports were being aired in a manner in which people could identify the survivors easily, the outfit detailed. Stating that the channel reports have caused mental distress to the survivors, the outfit also strongly urged the CM to intervene in the matter to stop this "news attack" against the privacy of women.

The letter was written in Malayalam which we loosely translated to English, "An open letter to the respected Chief Minister. As the statements made by women working in cinema before the Hema Committee you appointed have now been brought to the limits of the Special Investigation Team, there has been a situation where they have been dragged into irresponsible media trials through the reporter channel by violating even the court order. It is to share this concern that we met you in person and made you understand things. But the most private statements that the Hema Committee, the government and the court decided not to release out of respect for the privacy of the molested are now coming through the reporter's channel. The committee has made the moves of at least some people in charge of the report suspicious. The information released is enough for the outside world to identify who gave the statement. This act, which creates the impression that they are with the oppressed, makes the lives of the women who are subjected to it miserable and severely stressed. This invasion of privacy is unjust. We strongly demand that you immediately intervene in this matter and stop the invasion of news that insults privacy."

All you need to know about the Hema Committee

The Justice K Hema Committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case to document the challenges faced by women working in Malayalam cinema.  The report was submitted to the government on December 31, 2019, but it was not released to the public. No action was taken by the Kerala government (First Vijayan Ministry & Second Vijayan Ministry) from December 2019 to July 2024. It was only on August 19, 2024, that the state government released the redacted version of the report publically.

Following the allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation cropping up against several actors and directors in the wake of the report being made public, the state government on August 25 announced the establishment of a seven-member special investigation team to probe them.

-With PTI Inputs-