Malayalam actor Parvathy Thiruvothu posted an apology on her Instagram page on Monday for ‘liking’ Hirandas Murali aka rapper Vedan's post in connection to allegations of sexual harassment made against him. Several days after the allegations were made on social media, Vedan finally acknowledged his behaviour and posted an apology. However, this was seen as insincere by many, including the survivors.
In an Instagram post, actor Parvathy expressed her apologies to the survivors who have spoken up against Vedan. “I apologise sincerely to the survivors who have so bravely spoken up against the accused singer Vedan,” she wrote. Explaining the reason behind liking the post, she cited how several men fail to even acknowledge their actions. However, she also noted that the apology cannot be celebrated. “I had liked his apology post with the thought that many men don’t even acknowledge that they were at fault. I know clearly that it is not something to celebrate. I truly believe that it’s of paramount importance that the survivors be respected as they go forth with the case,” read her statement.
Parvathy also noted that she removed her 'like' shortly after she received messages from survivors who felt that his apology was not a sincere one. “I removed my “like” as soon as I got to know that a few survivors said the apology was not a sincere one. I stand corrected. Whether to forgive and how to heal is always the right of the survivor and I’ll only stand by them. I would like to apologise if you felt let down by me,” the actor wrote.
Ten days after allegations of sexual harassment were made against Malayalam anti-caste rapper Vedan by a group of women on social media, the rapper, who had reacted differently earlier, published a lengthy note apologising to the victims. However, two of the women survivors TNM reached out to confirmed that the rapper hadn’t reached out to them personally.
After Vedan’s Instagram post went viral, actor Parvathy had liked the post. However, she received flak from many, including survivors for doing so.
Parvathy has called out on screen sexism in Mollywood as well as other film industries in the past. She is one of the founding members of the Women in Cinema Collective, the organisation for the welfare of women workers in the Malayalam movie industry. Earlier, Parvathy was vocal about her criticism against the ONV Cultural Academy for conferring the ONV literary award to lyricist Vairamuthu, who has a slew of sexual harassment allegations against him.