Actor Alencier Ley Lopez has been slapped with sexual assault charges based on the complaint lodged by an actress in the Malayalam film industry. In reponse, Alencier said let the court decide if he is guilty.. A first information report (FIR) has been registered by the Chengamanad police in Kochi, based on an allegation made by an actor that he had sexually harassed her during the shooting of a film in 2017.
Police sources said that Alencier has been booked under sections 451 (house-trespass) and 354 (assault against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The survivor has recounted multiple times that she had informed about the assault to actor Edavela Babu, who was the then general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (A.M.M.A.). However, she was reportedly told that since Alencier had already apologised, no further action was required.
The case has been registered in the aftermath of the release of the Hema Committee report, which looked into problems that women face in the Malayalam film industry. Filmmaker Ranjith, actor-politician Mukesh, actors Nivin Pauly, Edavela Babu, Baburaj, Jayasurya, and Siddique have been booked on various complaints of sexual harassment in the last few days. On Tuesday, actor Nivin Pauly dismissed sexual assault allegations against him as baseless, adding that he will fight it legally.