Days after Malayalam director Liju Krishna was arrested in a rape case, the Kerala Film Directors’ Union (Fefka) has cancelled his membership. “Fefka is with the survivor. The temporary membership that Lijukrishnan had in the union has been terminated,” Fefka President Renji Panicket and General Secretary GS Vijayan said in a statement.
The cancellation of his membership comes two days after his arrest in the rape case. In 2017, in a similar instance, actor Dileep’s membership was cancelled by multiple unions within the film industry after they initially supported him. While Dileep was suspended from Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), he was later elected AMMA President in 2021.
Liju was arrested in a rape case on Sunday, March 6 by the Kakkanad Infopark station in Ernakulam after a complaint was filed by a young woman. The woman alleged that she had assisted him in writing dialogues for Padavettu, his upcoming debut feature film. Liju had signed up to be a member of the union for his upcoming movie, which he has also scripted. Manju Warrier, Aditi Balan and Nivin Pauly are also part of the movie, which is produced by actor Sunny Wayne.
The complainant alleged in a Facebook post that Liju raped her in a house rented for the production of the movie. Despite severe health issues and mental trauma, he raped her multiple times, she alleged. She added that Liju threatened her against disclosing the incident to anyone, and said “nobody would believe” even if she confided in someone.
“I have sought counselling to come out of the mental trauma. But he has conquered me in such a way that I can't come out of it. My weight reduced from 60 to 32 kg. I have lost my health in such a way that I can't even sit properly or walk. I am living with the help of my friends now," the woman’s post read.
The complainant added that the assault continued for two years but there was no Internal Committee that she could approach to file a complaint. “My attempts to communicate this with others working on the movie did not work. He told everyone that it was consensual,” the post added.