Vineeth Sreenivasan claims Nivin Pauly was in Kerala and not in Dubai when alleged sexual assault took place.
Previously, Nivin also publicly responded to sexual harassment allegations and called them ‘baseless’.
Malayalam directors Vineeth Sreenivasan and Arun have come out in support of actor Nivin Pauly amid sexual assault allegations against him. On Thursday, the two filmmakers issued a joint statement and claimed that contrary to the claims, Nivin was shooting in Kerala on the dates when the complainant alleged sexual assault.
“Nivin was shooting for Vineeth’s movie in Kochi on December 14 till the 15th morning in Cochin and later he moved on to join the sets of Pharma, a web series shoot that happened in Cochin itself. As per the case filed by the 40-year-old lady, the actor along with a gang raped her in Dubai during the said dates. Now it has been evident that Nivin was in Kerala on those days for shooting his film and an upcoming web series,” the statement read.
On September 3, a case was filed against Nivin Pauly for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman under the pretext of offering her a role in a movie. The complainant claimed that the incident happened in Dubai in last November.
Later, Nivin also publicly responded to sexual harassment allegations and called them ‘baseless’. “I have come across a false news report accusing me of abusing a girl. Please know that this is entirely untrue. I’m 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 wrote on his social media handle.
Nivin Pauly’s sexual assault allegation comes at a time when several revelations regarding such cases in the Malayalam film industry have left the entire nation shocked. It all started after the findings of the Justice Hema Committee Report were made public earlier this month. As of now, FIRs have been registered against nine film personalities, which include Mukesh, Siddique, Jayasurya, Edavela Babu, Maniyan Pillai Raju, directors Ranjith, V. K. Prakash, production executives Vichu and Noble after women actresses registered complaints.
