Release of Justice Hema Committee report delayed again

The release of the much-awaited justice K. Hema Committee report, which studied issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry, has been delayed again as the Kerala government on Saturday, 17 August reportedly decided to wait for the outcome of an actress' plea against its publication.

Renjini, who had given statements to the committee, has moved the high court reportedly raising concerns about the contents of the report. Earlier, the publication of the report, which was to be released on 24 July, was put on hold by the Kerala High Court on a plea moved by a Malayalam film producer.

Subsequently, the high court dismissed the plea on 13 August and directed the government to make the report public within a week from then.

Kerala Women's Commission chairperson P. Sathidevi said the government, which was going to release the report on Saturday, 17 August, probably decided to wait in view of the actress' plea, which is expected to be heard by the high court on Monday, 19 August.

"There are no hurdles in the publication of the report," she said. She also said the women's commission, right from the start, has been in favour of making the report public.

The State Information Commission had on 5 July directed the state public niformation officer (SPIO) to reasonably disseminate the information in the report while ensuring that it does not compromise the privacy of individuals.

The committee was formed after the 2017 actress assault case involving actor Dileep, to study issues of sexual harassment and gender inequality in Malayalam cinema.

Even though the report was filed in 2019, the government is yet to release the details as it is suspected to contain sensitive information.

The actress-victim who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films was allegedly abducted and molested in her car for two hours by some of the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of 17 February, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area.

The entire act was filmed by some of the accused to blackmail the actress.

There are 10 accused in the case. Dileep, the eighth accused in the case, was also arrested and sent to jail. He was released after the court granted him bail. The case is pending.