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Malayalam actor Manju Warrier filed a defamation suit at the Ernakulam Munsiff Court against filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, YouTuber Shajan Skariah, and Meta, seeking to remove defamatory social media posts against her. She has also asked the court to restrain further derogatory statements against her. She filed the suit on Saturday, September 19 and the court issued an interim injunction and summoned Sanal Kumar, Meta, and Shajan Skariah. The court scheduled the next hearing for November 5.
According to reports, Manju’s petition states that Sanal made false, continuous, and humiliating allegations claiming she was under the control of a "sex mafia" or "rackets," and notes that his actions stemmed from rejected romantic advances and prior online stalking complaints.
Speaking with the media following the court order, advocate Santhi Mayadevi said many online portals were playing Sanal’s interviews and everyone will receive an injection from the court. “In 2022 and in 2025 Manju Warrier filed complaints against Sanal including defamation, and both the cases are currently under the Aluva court. When a case is already before court and he continues doing this,” she added.
The legal action comes amid Sanal staging a sit-in hunger protest in front of the Kerala Secretariat, and making outlandish and defamatory claims that Manju is under the control of certain “rackets” and calling for her to be freed from their influence.
Many have accused Sanal of using the protest to publicly target and humiliate the actor, rather than allowing her privacy and agency. Filmmaker Dr Biju described the protest as misogynistic and said displaying the actor’s name in this context amounted to defamation and stalking.
Sanal and Manju earlier collaborated on a film Kayattam which was shot in 2020. Later he made multiple public statements claiming they were in a romantic relationship and Manju was under a certain racket. Recently, Manju’s brother Madhu Warrier posted a reply indirectly mocking Sanal.
Sanal has previously faced police action following complaints by Manju Warrier. In September 2025, he was detained at the Mumbai airport after Kerala Police issued a lookout notice in connection with a harassment case filed by the actor. The case followed his repeated social media posts about Manju Warrier, including claims that she was facing threats and was being targeted by a “mafia”. He had also been arrested in May 2022 in a separate case alleging online stalking of Warrier and was later granted bail.
