Second FIR has been registered against Malayalam director Ranjith over sexual harassment allegations.
It has been alleged that Ranjith invited the victim to a Bengaluru hotel for an audition where he allegedly asked the actor to strip naked.
A fresh FIR has been filed against Malayalam director Ranjith for allegedly sexually harassing a male actor in 2012. As reported by the news agency ANI, Ranjith had invited the victim to a Bengaluru hotel for an audition where he allegedly asked the actor to strip naked and clicked his pictures. Reportedly, the director assaulted the young actor sexually and even offered him money the next day.
The actor filed a complaint to the DGP and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) is likely to consider it. As per the complainant, his naked photos were sent to actress Revathi. Narrating what actually happened, the young male actor claimed, “When Ranjith told me to stand naked, he was talking to an actress. I have already revealed the name of that actress—Revathi. Ranjith told me it was Revathi. I don’t know if there is any relationship between Ranjith and Revathi, but Ranjith took my photos and sent them to her.”
“When I asked who the photos were being sent to, Ranjith said they were sent to Revathi, adding that she liked what she saw. This incident happened during the location pack-up of the movie ‘Bavuttiyude Namathil.’ The director was present there in connection with the audio launch of the movie or some other related event,” he added, as quoted by Deccan Herald.
Earlier this week, another FIR was filed against Ranjith for allegedly sexually assaulting a Bengali actress during the auditions for his 2009 film Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha.
“I was talking on the phone to a cinematographer, standing in Ranjith’s bedroom balcony. As I stood there, he touched my bangles. I was uncomfortable with it, but I gave him the benefit of doubt. Then he started caressing my neck, so I excused myself and left the room,” the actress claimed.
“I was not able to share the incident with anyone. After the incident, I spent the night in my hotel room in fear, thinking, what if people come and knock on my door? I was waiting for daylight,” she added.
Later, Ranjith also addressed the allegations and counter-accused the actress of spreading lies. “I interacted with her in the presence of screenwriter Shankar Ramakrishnan and two assistants. After Ramakrishnan narrated the story to Sreelekha, she was excited. I had some confusion about which character should be given to her,” he said and alleged that the Bengali actress made such allegations because she was not given a role in the movie.
