The Kerala High Court, on Wednesday, December 11, granted bail to actor-director Balachandra Menon in a sexual harassment case, citing that it was registered 17 years after the incident. Granting the bail, Justice PV Kunhikrishnan said that “pride and dignity is not only to women, but to men also”. The judge also listed out the ‘achievements’ of the accused, even adding that he was “honoured by the nation by giving Padma Shri”.
The complainant, a junior artiste, filed the complaint with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Kerala government to probe the allegations of sexual harassment raised by various film industry insiders in the aftermath of the publication of the Hema Commitee report in August this year.
Senior counsel Ramesh Chander, who appeared for Balachandra Menon, said that he was a respected director who won multiple awards and alleged that the case was filed with an intention to malign his image. The counsel also pointed out that the alleged harassment took place 17 years earlier.
The court said that there was force in the arguments of the petitioner. “It is an admitted fact that the alleged incident happened in the year 2007. It is an admitted fact that the victim filed the complaint after 17 years of the alleged incident. It is an admitted fact that the petitioner is a known cine artist. He is known as a film actor, director, and script writer. He has directed about 40 films and he obtained two national awards. He was honoured by the nation by giving Padma Shri also. Based on the statement of a lady, that also after 17 years, the present case is registered. It is true that the investigation is going on. But everybody must remember that the pride and dignity is not only to women, but to men also. I leave it there. This is a fit case in which this court has to grant bail to the petitioner in the interest of justice (sic),” the court ruled.
It may be noted that it is a settled legal position that the delay in filing a police complaint in cases of sexual harassment or assault may be triggered by several stigmatising circumstances including victim shaming.
The allegation against Balachandra Menon is that he sexually harassed a junior artiste twice, reportedly at the location of the film Dhe Ingottu Nokkiye in 2007. “He invited me to his room. I assumed it was for something related to the movie. But when I got there, I saw three women lying naked on his bed, and three other men watching. I left the room right away.” She added, “On another occasion, he asked me and another junior artiste to offer sexual favours. When we refused, he masturbated in front of us.”
She had first raised these allegations in a YouTube video that has since been removed. However, Balachandra Menon reportedly wrote to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Director General of Police, alleging defamation. The Ernakulam Rural police have also initiated a probe based on the actor-director’s complaint.
