The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kerala police, probing into the sexual assault revelations made by women in the Malayalam film industry, has so far identified over 20 key witness statements from the Hema Committee report that could serve as crucial evidence, potentially leading to legal action.
Most of these individuals will be contacted directly by the SIT. Legal action will be initiated based on the statements of those who wish to proceed with cases.
The SIT intends to reach out to most of the witnesses within the next ten days, and cases will be filed with the survivors’ consent.
The first phase of witness examination is expected to conclude by September 30, and cases are likely to be filed before the next High Court hearing on October 3.
According to sources, there are over 20 cases involving serious allegations, in which the complainants will be approached and legal action will be initiated with their consent.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the SIT is preparing to file cases under the POCSO Act (Prevention of Child Sexual Offences) for revelations that fall within its scope, without requiring the victims to re-record their statements.
The original Hema Committee report is 3,896 pages long, while the RTI applicants were provided only 296 pages. On 10 September, the Kerala High Court ordered the Kerala government to hand over the entire unredacted report to the SIT.
The SIT will seek assistance from the Department of Culture or members of the Hema Committee to identify those who did not reveal their identity.
The Justice Hema committee, which was formed after the 2017 actress assault case to look into the sexual exploitation complaints from women in the Malayalam cinema industry, gave its report to the state in 2019.
However, the state didn’t act on it or even release it for four years, until it was instructed to by the court.