Nivin Pauly was on Tuesday booked for the offence of rape on a complaint by a 40-year-old woman that he sexually assaulted her over a year ago in Dubai, police said. An officer of Oonnukal police station, where the FIR under section 376 of the IPC was registered, said that there are six accused, including a woman, in the case. The first accused is a woman and Pauly is the sixth accused, the officer said. According to the complainant, the incident occurred over a year ago in Dubai, the officer said, and declined to give further details.
Just a few hours after the news broke, Nivin Pauly took it upon himself to respond to the allegations. He share a note on Instagram, that read, "I have come across a false news report accusing me of abusing a girl. Please know that this is entirely untrue. I am determined to go to any extent to prove these allegations are baseless and will take all necessary steps to bring those responsible to light. Thank you for your concern. The rest will be handled legally."
Nivin Pauly has starred in some of the most commercially and critically acclaimed Malayalam movies including Premam, 1983, Bangalore Days, Kayamkulam Kochunni, and Moothon among others. The superstar has won two Kerala State Film Awards, three three Filmfare Awards South, and six South Indian International Movie Awards.
Following the release of the Justice Hema Committee report last month and the subsequent sexual harassment allegations in the Malayalam film industry, Mohanlal resigned as the President from the AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes). There have been complaints of sexual abuse against actors Siddique, Jayasurya, and director Ranjith.
The Justice Hema Commitee report, which was made public last month after redacting the names of witnesses and the accused, contains shocking accounts of harassment, exploitation, and ill-treatment of women professionals in Malayalam cinema. The Kerala government has formed a Special Investigation Team to investigate the allegations of sexual abuse in Mollywood.
READ | Malayalam cinema's sexual abuse scandal explained: How sexual assault of star in 2017 led to Mollywood's #MeToo moment
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