Malayalam Actress Accuses Tamil Director Of Grooming Her As A "Sex Slave" At 18

Amid the rising pile of sexual allegations against prominent players in the Malayalam film industry following the Hema Committee Report, a 90s actress came forward alleging that a well-known Tamil director groomed her as a “sex slave” when she was 18 years old.

In an interview to NDTV, actress Soumya claimed that the director approached her with his wife and called her his “daughter.” She added that the director’s actual daughter had allegedly left her parents after accusing her father of rape.

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The actress highlighted how, as a young girl with dreams of appearing in cinema, she was “groomed” by the director throughout their interactions during her debut movie. Soumya alleged that the man kissed her once while calling her his daughter and declaring that he wanted to have a child with her. One day, he called her when his wife was away and raped her, she alleged.

The actress revealed that the sexual abuse continued for nearly a year while she was still studying in college. Soumya also claimed that a co-star who sexually abused her has been named in the Hema Committee report. “Directors, actors, and technicians abused me. There were also rights violations. One person spat pan on me,” she told NDTV.

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“It took 30 years for me to heal and recover from this sense of ‘shame’… I encourage survivors to report all such abuse,” stated Soumya, as quoted by NDTV. The actress also stated that she will reveal the identity of the director to the special police team formed by the Kerala government.

The state government is investigating multiple cases of alleged sexual assault in the Malayalam industry since the release of the Hema Committee Report. The Kerala High Court on Thursday set up a special five-member bench to hear the cases related to the report. Notably, the committee will have woman judges, The New Indian Express reported, citing a lawyer. The single-judge bench had allowed the release of the committee report on August 13.