look news india
Malayalam actress Saumya: Following the Hema Committee report on sexual exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry, 1990s heroine Soumya has created a sensation by accusing a Tamil film director of trapping her as a sex slave.
In an interview to a TV channel, Soumya said that the Tamil director tortured her physically and mentally. He also sexually harassed me in the name of entertainment. Soumya said that she would only reveal the name of the Tamil film director to a special police team formed by the Kerala government to investigate cases of sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry.
Who is Malayalam actress Soumya?
Soumya said in this TV interview that at the age of 18, I was studying in the first year of college. I came from a secure family background and my parents knew nothing about films. When I was doing theatre in my college, an acquaintance of mine told me about an opportunity to act in a Tamil film. As a teenager I was fascinated by actress Revathi. She lived in my neighbourhood at that time. I was lost in the world of imagination and the film director and his wife went there for a screen test.
Saumya further said in this interview that being a young girl I did not know anything. He indicated to me that my family was forced to convince me to act. The director of the film told my father that a lot of money has been spent on its screen test. As a result, I had to agree to work in his film.
Soumya explained
Initially, he would not talk to me during outdoor shoots. We had an agreement that his wife would be the director of the film but it was all on paper and in reality, the director was handling all the work. I was under his control. He would show his anger and intimidate me into silence. Coming from a patriarchal family, I was constantly intimidated by a man of my father's age because I got angry easily.
Soumya told that one day when his wife was not around, he called me daughter and kissed me. Which shocked me. I wanted to tell this to my friends but could not. I did not tell anyone because I was ashamed that I had done something wrong. Slowly that man started taking advantage of my body. He also raped me during one year when I was in college.
Saumya said that even though the director called me his daughter, he sexually abused me. It took me 30 years to overcome the guilt of my relationship with him. I encourage all victims to report this type of sexual abuse.