The Justice K. Hema Committee is a three-member committee, constituted in 2017 based on a petition submitted by the Kerala-based Women in Cinema Collective, after a lead actress in the Malayalam cine industry faced a gruesome episode of sexual assault. The Hema Committee after studying the issues faced by women in cinema, submitted its report in 2019.

5 years later, the Hema Committee contents were made public (accessible to select journalists under the Right to Information Act) on August 19, 2024 i.e. last Monday, revealing only a fraction of its findings. 

Disturbing revealitions of discrimination, exploitation and sexual harassment of women in Malayalam cinema have been detailed in the 235-page Hema Committee report, redacting the names of the witnesses, as well as the accused (55 pages detailing personal accounts of sexual harassment have been obscured). Overall it gives a picture that women in Malayalam cine industry, especially those in the lower pecking order, like support staff, dancers, make-up artists, extras, have been subject to unspeakable treatment by industry powerful. 

Post the Hema Committee report going public, popular acts like Tovino Thomas have expressed support for taking severe action against those who commit serious offenses within the Malayalam film industry. "We need to ensure that offenders are punished, but we also need to remember that not everyone in the (Mollywood) industry is guilty."

Another thing that has followed the Hema Committee report expose, is affected actresses in the Malayalam film industry, re-telling their #MeToo stories, most of which seem to have not gotten as much attention prior. Among the names to be accused of making inappropriate sexual advances, is the Chennai-based character actor Riyaz Khan, who is well known in the Tamil and Telugu film industries, besides Malayalam.

Famous among the Tamil audience for playing Kattadurai in Winner (2003), Riyaz Khan has acted alongside major star actors, and his last significant Kollywood outing was the Ponniyin Selvan movies, both part 1 (2022) and part 2 (2023). 

Actress Revathy Sampath, who accused Malayalam actor Siddique of sexually assaulting her when she was 21 (Veteran actor Siddique has since resigned as the general secretary of Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes), has also claimed of sexual advances via phone call by actor Riyaz Khan. Revathy Sampath claims that the incident happened when she was 20 i.e. in the year 2014. 

Shocking allegations against Actor #RiyazKhan 🤯 pic.twitter.com/OIShDJOPb1

— Deepu (@deepu_drops) August 25, 2024

Riyaz Khan has been married to Uma Riyaz Khan since 1992, and the couple, currently in their 50s, share two fully grown sons. Riyaz Khan's Malayalam release this year, Once Upon a Time in Kochi (May 31, 2024), stars Shine Tom Chacko, who is also accused of inappropriate behaviour in the Hema Committee/Me Too apocalypse.  

So far.... #HemaCommittee

1.Siddique
2 Jayasurya
3.Mukesh
4.Maniyanpilla Kuttan
5.Baburaj
6.Riyas Khan
7.Ganesh kumaran
8.Edavela Babu
9.Shine Tom Chacko
10. Director Renjith.

— SmartBarani (@SmartBarani) August 26, 2024