Actor Shwetha Menon, known for her roles in Malayalam hits such as Salt N’ Pepper and Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha, was booked for performing roles with obscene content, videos of which were shared via social media sites.
According to a report in The Hindu, the Ernakulam Central Police of Kerala has registered an FIR against the actor under Section 67A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. She is accused of having made financial gains from acting in movies with "vulgar content."
The complaint against her was filed by social activist and Ernakulam native Martin Menachery. Section 67A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) deals with punishment for publishing material containing sexually explicit acts in electronic form. The case was filed days before Menon was to contest for the post of President of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), a post previously held by superstar Mohanlal.
In a new development, Menon approached the Kerala High Court on Thursday seeking to quash the complaint against her, alleging that the FIR was 'malafide and ill-motivated'. She also submitted in her petition that the films in question had been certified by the CBFC and publicly exhibited years ago, according to reports.
A report in The New Indian Express stated that the Kerala police had not taken any action on the complaint, but Menachery approached the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, which subsequently directed the police to register the case.
Now, several actors from the Malayalam film industry condemned the complaint against Menon, hinting at a political conspiracy. Actor Maala Parvathy wrote in a social media post, "Some prominent figures are making wrong calculations and will do anything to win. Big allegations are now being made against those likely to win. First, Kukku Parameswaran and now Shwetha Menon are facing attacks. I request the general public to stand with them because two women are being sacrificed in this tug for power. Shwetha and Kukku should file a case against this conspiracy."
Veteran actor Devan, also in the running for the post of AMMA president, called the complaint “nonsense and filed with an ulterior motive", according to the report.
Last week, actor Jagadeesh had opted out of the race to become President of AMMA, stating that he was making way for the leadership to be taken forward by women. Menon was the lone standing candidate for the post as actor Raveendran had also withdrawn his candidacy before Jagadeesh.
Mohanlal had at first filed for resignation from his post as president in the wake of the backlash that followed the release of the Hema Committee report. But in June this year, the Kerala police decided that it wouldn't be investigating cases of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour within the Malayalam film industry that emerged from the Hema Committee report, as they couldn't make any headway. The cops claimed that the probe was dropped as the survivors didn't provide statements in connection with the cases.
