Media misleading public perception of film industry: Suresh Gopi
Thrissur (Kerala) (PTI): Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Tuesday lashed out at the media, accusing it of misleading the public's perception about the film industry regarding the recent allegations of sexual harassment against actors and directors.
The actor-politician termed the allegations as "food" for the media and said they were welcome to make money out of it.
The Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism, however, said they should not try to destroy such a huge industry like cinema.
He was responding to reporters' queries over the recent allegations of sexual harassment and abuse against various directors and actors, including CPI(M) MLA M Mukesh.
"This is all food for you, is what I understand. You can use it to make money. (There is) no problem with that. But these issues are before the court, and it has the intelligence and logic to arrive at a decision regarding them.
"You (media) are not only making people fight each other for your own gains, you are also misleading public perception. The complaints are in the form of allegations at the moment. What are you telling people? Are you the court? You are not. The court will decide. Let the court decide," Gopi said.
His response came a day after the Yuva Morcha organised a march towards the residence of Mukesh in Kollam.
The publication of the Justice K Hema Committee report on harassment and abuse in the Malayalam film industry has opened a can of worms with several female actors stepping forward with disturbing accounts of the mistreatment they faced at the hands of their various male counterparts.
Amid these allegations, the government announced the establishment of a seven-member special investigation team to probe the allegations made in the wake of the Hema Committee report being published.
Following that more complaints surfaced against various actors and directors.
The report by the Justice Hema Committee, constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case has revealed instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry, prompting calls for action against the guilty.
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UP: Over 100 monkeys die of toxic chemical, buried in pit to hide carnage
Hathras (UP), Nov 22: More than 100 monkeys perished after inhaling a pesticide sprayed in a food godown and were stealthily buried in a pit, police on Friday said.
The bodies were taken out for a postmortem by a team of veterinarians on Friday.
Circle Officer Yogendra Krishna Narayan said police came to know about the deaths on Wednesday.
Police have registered a case against the employees of Food Corporation of India and started an investigation.
According to police, the chemical in question was aluminium phosphide sprayed on wheat sacks to protect it from insects and rodents in an FCI warehouse on November 7.
A troop of monkeys entered the warehouse through a broken window of the godown on the night of November 7 and ended up inhaling the gas.
When the workers opened the warehouse on November 9, they saw several monkeys dead.
They allegedly chose not to inform their seniors about deaths and buried the bodies in a pit.
The CO said the bodies were exhumed when some Vishv Hindu Parishad leaders came to know about the incident.
As per police count, more than 100 monkeys were exhumed from the pit.
Their bodies were in late stage decay, the officer said.
