Revathy, Padmapriya, Parvathy slam AMMA, demand meet
Kochi, June 28: Three actresses on Thursday demanded an urgent meeting of the top artistes' body AMMA to discuss the controversial reinstatement of actor Dileep, who has been accused of abducting and sexually assaulting an actress.
Revathy Asha Kelunni, Padmapriya Janakiraman and A. Parvathy wrote to the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes General Secretary Edavela Babu and demanded an emergency executive meeting to be called on July 13 or 14.
The open letter was also posted on the Facebook page of the newly formed Women in Cinema Collective (WCC).
As women members of AMMA, the three actresses expressed concern over its Sunday decision to bring back an expelled member who was involved in an alleged assault of another women member from the same organisation.
"At this meeting, a very crucial decision was taken... Considering the gravity of the circumstances and the matter being sub-judice, it is shocking that such an important matter was decided without listing it on the agenda or being discussed among all members prior to the meeting.
"AMMA had publicly pledged full support to the member who survived the assault but the decision taken for reinstating the expelled member who is now a chargesheeted suspect goes against the promise made to the survivor," the letter said.
As a result, on Wednesday, "the survivor resigned and in solidarity with her three other women members have also resigned", the actresses said.
"This does not reflect well on AMMA," it said.
Earlier, the Kerala State Women's Commission slammed superstar Mohanlal, who heads AMMA, over the reinstatement of the actor who is an accused in the February 2017 actress kidnapping case which took place in Kochi. This landed Dileep in jail for 85 days.
This was the first decision taken by the new committee under Mohanlal.
Kerala Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty on Thursday expressed surprise in the manner in which AMMA revoked Dileep's suspension.
"It should not be forgotten that actors are icons and they should be perfect role models, but this decision that they took is baffling."
Everyone is now awaiting superstar Mammootty's decision. It was Mammootty who had announced the decision to remove Dileep from AMMA. However, Mammootty is not an office bearer any more.
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Mumbai family deaths: FDA finds no watermelon vendor in area to check for affected stock
Mumbai (PTI): The Food and Drug Administration team probing the cause of death of four members of a family in south Mumbai's JJ Marg area have not been able to zero in on any watermelon vendor in the vicinity to check if the fruit had a role to play in the ill-fated incident, an official said on Thursday.
The Dokadia family, residents of Ghari Mohalla on Ismail Kurte Road, had hosted a get-together of relatives on the night of April 25. At around 1 am, hours after the guests had left, Abdullah Dokadia (40), his wife Nasreen (35), and daughters Ayesha (16) and Zaineb (13) ate pieces of a watermelon.
They suffered severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea in the early hours of April 26 and were rushed to a local hospital before being referred to the government-run J J Hospital where all four died during treatment.
"The FDA team visited the house of Dokadia and collected samples of chicken pulao and watermelon pieces. After two days, the leftover chicken pulao had developed fungus growth. The team also tried to locate watermelon vendors to check for any affected lots," he said.
But no vendors were found in the area for the past two days, preventing the FDA team from getting samples, the official added.
The FDA has requested the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to share the report on the food samples collected by them, he added.
A senior Mumbai police official said the force is waiting for FSL reports in the case, adding that questions on presence of sedatives etc in the fruit could be answered only then.
The statements of the kin of the deceased are being recorded to ascertain if it is a case of mass suicide, and it is being checked if the Dokadia family were in debt or distressed over some issue, the police official said.
