Malayalam filmmaker arrested for sexually assaulting man in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: A case has been registered against Malayalam film director Ranjith Balakrishnan on the complaint of a 31-year-old man who alleged that he was sexually assaulted by him at a five-star hotel, police said on Monday.

In the FIR, the complainant claimed that he met the director in 2012 in Kozhikode when he went to meet actor Mammootty during the shooting of Bavuttiyude Namathil, written and produced by Balakrishnan.

According to the FIR, the complainant alleged that the director then managed to get his phone number and invited him to a hotel near the Kempegowda International Airport in December 2012, where he allegedly offered him alcohol and sexually assaulted him.

“Initially, a complaint was lodged at a police station in Kerala, but the case was transferred to Bengaluru as the alleged incident of sexual assault took place here in a five-star hotel and an FIR has now been registered,” said a senior police officer.

“The incident allegedly took place in 2012, but the complainant has come forward now following a series of allegations of sexual harassment by many artists in the Malayalam film industry, which he claimed gave him the courage to register his complaint,” the official said.

“Based on a complaint received on October 26, a case under section 377 (unnatural offences) and 66 E (breach of privacy) of the Information Technology Act has been registered against the director at the BIAL (Bangalore International Airport Limited) police station and the case is under investigation,” he said. .