Two men from Perinthalmanna of Malappuram district have been identified by the police for allegedly harassing a woman actor at Lulu Mall in Ernakulam. The two have been reportedly absconding and while speaking to media outlets, they claimed to be innocent, but said were ready to apologise. The two accused added that after their photographs were released by the police, they were not able to go out in public. They said that they will surrender themselves to the police soon.
As per reports, the Kochi police has started to Malappuram to take them into custody. Kalamassery police had released the photographs of two men who had harassed the actor from the mall.
Last Thursday, the actor had posted on her Instagram that she was harassed by two men while she was shopping. She said that they had groped her but when confronted they had dismissed the allegation and walked away. After checking the CCTV footage, a police officer confirmed that they had touched her in an inappropriate manner.
Meanwhile, the accused have denied the allegations. Speaking to the media, the two men say that they had gone to Thrissur to repair their car and had later gone to Ernakulam on work.
"We saw the woman in the mall but did not know that she was an actor. Later we saw a family taking a selfie with her. We asked her sister how many movies the woman had acted in but she seemed very arrogant so we walked away,” said one of the accused, justifying their behavior.
They also added that they might have touched her unknowingly and didn't mean to harass. They said they are ready to apologise to the actor.
Meanwhile the actor's father reacted to the accused men's statements and said that they had harassed her intentionally. "If they did not do it intentionally, they would have apologised that moment. They did not do that; moreover they also stalked her. Later it was found that they did not give their original name or phone number in the mall register or at the railway station," he told Reporter TV.