The Kasaba police in Kerala have registered a case against film director Ranjith following the complaint of a youth from Kozhikode alleging sexual assault. The youth, who already gave his statement before the special investigation team (SIT) probing the sexual assault cases involving film personalities in Kerala, claimed that he was exposed to sexual assault during a meeting with Mr. Ranjith to discuss his entry into cinema in Bengaluru in 2012.
Apart from charging Section 377 (punishment for unnatural sex) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the police invoked various other sections under the Information Technology (IT) Act against Mr. Ranjith for allegedly sharing nude pictures of the complainant to another actor. IPC section was invoked as the incident took place nearly 12 years ago.
The 33-year-old survivor earlier gave his statement to the SIT accusing Mr. Ranjith of capturing the former’s nude pictures.
The youth also claimed that he came in contact with Mr. Ranjith during the shooting of the Malayalam film Bavuttiyude Namathil in December 2012.
“When I approached him for a role in his (then) upcoming film, he gave his mobile number and asked me to call for discussing the matter. The assault took place when I visited him in Bengaluru a few days later following his instruction,” the youth had claimed at a press conference in Kozhikode recently.
The Kerala Police had earlier registered a first information report (FIR) against Mr. Ranjith on the basis of a petition filed by a Bengali woman actor accusing him of molestation. Mr. Ranjith resigned from the post of the chairman of Kerala Chalachitra Academy following the legal development and related controversies.
