In Kerala, veteran director and the Chairman of the Kerala State Chalachihra Academy Ranjith Balakrishnan has resigned. He submitted his resignation to the state government this morning. Ranjith’s resignation followed allegations by Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra to a news channel that he touched her inappropriately, when the duo met in connection with the discussions on a film in Kochi in 2009.

The resignation comes in the wake of the release of the redacted version of the Justice Hema Committee report, made public last week. The release of the report rocked the Malayalam film industry, with female actors coming out in the open, with details of the harrowing experiences they had to undergo.

In a related development, the General Secretary of  the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), actor Siddique has also resigned his post following allegations of rape by a female actor. Yesterday, actress Revathy Sampath alleged that Siddique sexually assaulted her a few years ago, at a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram. Siddique submitted his resignation to the Association President, actor Mohanlal this morning.

The Justice Hema Committee, constituted by the Kerala government, in its report pointed out the deplorable conditions in which women work in the Malayalam film industry and brought to the fore issues like sexual favours in exchange of work, lack of basic facilities, among other things. The Committee was set up in 2017, following the rape of a leading female actor in Kochi in a moving vehicle, allegedly at the behest of actor Dileep.