The flood of sexual assault and rape allegations roiling the Malayalam film industry has found echoes in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, after popular actor Sowmya accused a Tamil director of horrific mental, physical, and sexual assault – including the insertion of a rod into her genitals as “entertainment”.

In an emotional but powerful interview with NDTV she spoke about being “groomed as a sex slave” by the director, whose identity she has chosen to withhold at this time. Sowmya said the man – who approached her, she said, with his wife and when she was 18 years old – inflicted mental torture by claiming her as his “daughter” and declaring he wanted a child with her.

She said she would reveal the man’s identity to the special police team formed by the Kerala government, which is investigating multiple cases of alleged sexual assault in Mollywood.

“I was 18 and in my first year of college… I came from a very sheltered background and my parents knew nothing about movies. This opportunity (to act in a Tamil film) came through my college theatre contact. As a child I was enamoured by the actor Revathy, who lived near my house at that time…I was in a fantasy world. So I went for a screen test with this couple…”

“I was a child, I didn’t know much,” Sowmya told NDTV.

She indicated her family had been arm-twisted into allowing her to act, saying the director told her father they had spent large amounts of money on her screen test. This was after Sowmya’s red flags; “… I said I wasn’t comfortable with the man. I said this at my first meeting.”

However, Sowmya told NDTV she felt “obligated” to act in that movie.

“During the first outdoor shoots he didn’t speak to me. The agreement was that his wife would be the director but that was on paper… in reality he was directing the whole movie.”

“And so I was under his control… and he gave me the ‘angry silent treatment’ like a lot of men are used to doing. And because of our conditioning in patriarchy… about authority figures, particularly intimidating men who express anger very easily, I was very scared,” she said.

Sowmya, fighting to keep her emotions in check, then outlined how she was “groomed” by the man who claimed her as his daughter, and whose own daughter had left, accusing him of rape.

“… but they told me she (the couple’s daughter) was lying. So they brought me into their home… I was a teenager who was rebellious at home and suddenly this couple was nice to me, bribing me with good food and milkshakes, and telling me good things. That was the grooming process… he knew fully well what he was doing,” she said firmly.

And then, Sowmya told NDTV, the sexual assault and rape took place.

“One fine day, when his wife wasn’t around, this man, while calling me his daughter, kissed me. I completely froze. I was so desperate to tell my friends but couldn’t… I was ashamed, thinking I had done something wrong and that I was obligated to be nice to this man…”

“So I continued going for practice, for dance rehearsals… every day I went back and gradually, step by step, this man completely used my body to his advantage. At some point he forced himself on me… so he raped me. This went on for close to a year while I was in college.”

During this time Sowmya said the man repeatedly called her his “daughter” and also that he wanted a child with her. “He messed with my brain…” she said, the anger palpable. “It took 30 years for me to heal and recover from this sense of ‘shame’… I encourage survivors to report all such abuse.”

READ | Mukesh Need Not Resign As MLA Amid #MeToo Claims: Kerala’s CPIM

Rape and assault allegations against senior Malayalam actors and film directors have been pouring in since the Justice Hema Committee report was released last month. Multiple cases have been filed against top actors, including Mukesh, who is also an MLA with the ruling CPIM.

READ | “I Have 2 Daughters. We Need…”: Tamil Director On Kerala MeToo Row

Earlier this week the Tamil film industry finally broke its silence on this subject, with Venkat Prabhu, a director, told NDTV it is time for it to address the allegations head-on. He emphasised the need for a safer working environment for women in the industry. “I have two daughters…” he said.

READ | “Will Talk To Sonia Gandhi”: Sacked Kerala Leader On Casting Couch Row

Similar allegations have also been made by an expelled Congress leader – Simi Rose Bell John, who has said she will approach Sonia Gandhi – against her former party, adding to the political row as the opposition outfit and the BJP target Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s administration.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

Overlooked by the BJP leadership in its selection of candidates for the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls, Olympics bronze medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt put out a cryptic post on X this morning. The wrestler has posted a Hindi poem, which translates to “when the character is pure, why is this your condition? Sinners don’t have the right to test you, set out on a search to find yourself”.

Mr Dutt, who joined the BJP in 2019, had earlier expressed willingness to contest the upcoming election from Gohana seat.

“I have expressed my wish to contest elections to the Chief Minister and the central leadership. I am a sportsperson, and an Olympic medallist, and I have contested elections from BJP earlier also, so I want to get a chance,” he told the media last week.

“चरित्र जब पवित्र है तो क्यों है यें दशा तेरी, ये पापियों को हक़ नहीं कि लें ये परीक्षा तेरी, तू ख़ुद की खोज में निकल…” #sportslife pic.twitter.com/rX8b8pZTks

— Yogeshwar Dutt (@DuttYogi) September 5, 2024

The wrestler has got poll opportunities twice in the past, but failed to score a win. In the 2019 Assembly election, the BJP fielded him in Baroda seat. He lost to Congress’s Krishan Hooda by nearly 5,000 votes. Following Mr Hooda’s death, Baroda went to the polls again. In the 2020 election, Mr Dutt lost again, this time to Congress’s Indu Raj Narwal.

The BJP has ignored Mr Dutt even as the Congress inducted wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia. The two are likely to contest the Haryana state polls — Ms Phogat from Julana and Mr Punia from Badli.

Mr Dutt and Ms Phogat and Mr Punia were on the opposite sides during the massive row over sexual harassment allegations against former wrestling boss and former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. At one point, Ms Phogat had accused the fellow wrestler of intimidating women wrestlers who complained against the BJP heavyweight and discouraging wrestlers from joining the protests against him. The wrestling world, she had said, will remember Mr Dutt for licking the soles of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

The 90 seats in Haryana Assembly will vote on October 5. The counting of votes is scheduled for October 8. The BJP yesterday released its first list of candidates with 67 names. The Congress is likely to release its first list soon.

Muhammad Yunus, leading Bangladesh’s interim government, expressed displeasure over former PM Sheikh Hasina’s political remarks from India. He urged India to rethink its narrative on Bangladeshi politics and mentioned the need to review certain treaties like the Adani electricity deal. Yunus also refuted claims of violence against minorities in Bangladesh.