Actor Nivin Pauly has petitioned the State Police Chief and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the sexual harassment allegations against figures in the Malayalam film industry to probe what he dubbed as ‘fake complaint’ against him lodged by a woman based on which the Ernakulam rural police had filed a First Information Report (FIR) on Tuesday.
The actor in his petition demanded that conspiracy, if any, behind the complaint be brought out. He claimed that he was in Kerala busy shooting for a movie during the period when the petitioner accused him of having sexually abused her in Dubai. Mr. Pauly also attached evidence to prove this claim along with the petition.
The actor said that he had not travelled abroad during the said period and submitted his passport copy as proof. He requested that the probe be completed thus proving his innocence and absolving him of the case at the earliest. He also promised full cooperation to any kind of investigation.
The FIR registered by Oonnukal police had arraigned Mr. Pauly as the sixth accused in the case invoking a slew of charges, including gang rape. Shreya, film producer A.K. Sunil, Binu, Basheer and Kuttan were identified as the first to fifth accused respectively. The FIR had since then been handed over to the SIT.
Mr. Pauly called a press meet the very same night and claimed his innocence saying that he neither knows nor have met the petitioner. He said that he will legally fight the ‘fake complaint’ and that he had no intention to go into hiding.
Since then actor-director Vineeth Sreenivasan, Mr. Pauly’s long-time friend and mentor who gave him his debut, has come out proclaiming the innocence of his friend stating that he was with him shooting for their upcoming film on the two days when he was accused of having abused the petitioner.
Published - September 06, 2024 07:43 pm IST