Popular Malayalam film actress Swetha Menon lodged a complaint against the Congress MP Peethambara Kurup for allegedly molesting her in a public function in which she was invited as a guest of honor. She also showed visuals to corroborate her statement. The police took her statement for 90 long minutes after which they simply left her place without telling anything to the media representatives. And Swetha immediately left for Bangalore with her family members.
After Kollam police registered a case against the MP, the irate Youth Congress activists burnt her effigy and shouted slogans against her rallying on the main road and said the protest against her will continue. Congress leaders brushed off her allegations. Other Congress party leaders also supported Kurup.
Swetha told at Kochi earlier that as a woman she felt degraded and disrespected. She also said that no politics is involved in it and no question of backing out from the complaint.
But later she withdrew her complaint telling that she doesn’t want to prolong it. She told to media representatives that she is dropping her complaint as Kurup repeatedly apologized. Swetha also said that the decision to withdraw her complaint is taken with her free will after Guru, her husband and her father advised her.
CPI leaders complained that the Chief Minister and the Home Minister totally failed in ensuring safety of a woman. As announced earlier, Swetha in fact is to meet Chief Minister today but opted to drop her charges.
One out of thousand cases of molest comes out as women prefer to suffer silently. Even when a case comes out with TV visuals to support the charges, a case is withdrawn under pressure but the pressure is not made public as the withdrawal was stated as it was done with free will. Such is the pressure a woman gets. No sense can be seen in the protests by a third person against the victim when the victim shows the evidence of molestation when law gives protection by putting onus on the accused of proving not guilty.
Swetha Menon is the only daring woman who allowed the shooting of delivering a baby for the movie “Kallimannu” in Malayalam.
-SriJa
