The Kerala High Court has directed the Judicial First Class Magistrate, Ernakulam, to independently examine woman actor Ansiba Hassan’s complaint against fellow actors Lakshmipriya and Shwetha Menon, the president and vice-president of the Association of Malayalam Movie  Artistes (AMMA) respectively, and determine whether the matter prima facie required a police investigation.

Justice Jobin Sebastian allowed Ms. Hassan’s plea and directed the Magistrate to also consider whether a police investigation is required to collect evidence which cannot be secured by the complainant. 

Ms. Hassan had approached the High Court challenging an order of the Magistrate Court, which had refused to register a case based on her complaint against a video allegedly containing sexually coloured and defamatory statements regarding her. She stated that a teaser video of an interview with Ms. Lakshmipriya was published on a social media platform, allegedly containing sexually coloured remarks against Ms. Hassan, in the early hours of June 26.

Ms. Hassan claimed that these remarks were intended to outrage her modesty and insult her dignity as a woman. She said she tried to prevent the release of the full interview by immediately filing complaints with the police and the Keralam Home Minister, who reportedly told her that an investigation had been initiated. Later, on June 26, the full interview was released, allegedly with remarks by Ms. Lakshmipriya portraying Ms. Hassan as a “woman of immoral character who clandestinely invites men to her room for illicit activities”.

When the matter was considered by the Magistrate, the SHO Palarivattom had stated that six witnesses had been examined and that there was no evidence to prove her allegations. Ms. Hassan contended before the High Court that the Magistrate had erred in concluding that her allegations only disclosed the offence of defamation. She claimed that the Magistrate ignored her complaint that the accused, Ms. Lakshmipriya, deliberately published sexually coloured remarks against her through social media.