The Kerala Police on Saturday, November 16 filed a charge sheet against director and former president of the Kerala State Academy Chalachitra Ranjith Balakrishnan in connection with a case of sexual harassment against him. The chargesheet was filed in the Ernakulam Judicial First Class Court by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing sexual harassment cases following the release of the Hema Committee report. It is to be noted that this is the first charge sheet filed by the SIT.

Ranjith was on August 26 after Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra filed a police complaint against him for alleged sexual harassment in 2009. In her complaint, emailed to the Kochi Police Commissioner, Sreelekha said she came in town for talks related to one of Ranjith’s films named Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha.

“During the discussion, he shook my hand and later tried to reach other parts of my body with sexual intent. Realizing that his intentions were not to talk about the movie and with sexual intent, I had to escape from the apartment and go back to the hotel where I was staying. My bitter experience was shared the next day with a screenwriter Sri Joshy Joseph. As I was not given the travel ticket for my return journey, I was forced to seek the help of Sri Joshy Joseph (sic),” she said.

Ranjith was charged under Section 354 (assault or use of criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and Section 509 (acts, words or gestures intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code ( CPI). ).

While Ranjith claimed that the allegations were fabricated, he as president of Kerala Chalachitra Academy. The Academy is a Kerala government initiative to promote Malayalam cinema.