Liju Krishna, director of the upcoming Malayalam film Padavettu, has been taken into police custody from Kannur in Kerala on Sunday, March 6, after an allegation of rape. A case has been filed against him at the Kakkanad Infopark station after a complaint was made by a young woman who helped him with aspects of the film. The film, starring Manju Warrier, Aditi Balan and Nivin Pauly in the lead is produced by actor Sunny Wayne.
Padavettu is the debut feature film of Liju Krishna as a director. He has also written the script for the film. Earlier, Sunny Wayne and Liju worked together for a play called Moment Just Before Death. Sunny directed the play and Liju produced it.
The shooting of Padavettu was proceeding in Kannur, Liju’s hometown, at the time he was taken into custody. Further work on the film has been halted. Padavettu was expected to release this year.
The case comes right after serial sexual assault allegations were made against a tattoo artist in Kochi. Sujeesh PS, the accused in the case, was arrested on Saturday night after multiple cases of sexual abuse against him came to light. Six women had approached the police against Sujeesh, who had been absconding since the first revelation came out on social media a few days ago. An 18-year-old woman spoke out about being sexually assaulted by him while getting a tattoo at his parlour. Sujeesh was arrested when he was on his way to reach his advocate's office on Saturday.