Kerala police form SIT to probe actress Honey Rose's allegations against jeweller

Kochi, Jan 7 (PTI) A Special Investigation Team (SIT) will probe the sexual harassment complaint filed by Malayalam actress Honey Rose against prominent businessman Bobby Chemmanur, against whom a case has been registered under non-bailable sections.

A senior police officer said on Wednesday that a SIT has been formed to investigate the allegations made by the actress in her complaint and in her social media post in which she accused him of making "repeated sexually coloured" remarks against her.

The circle inspector of the Kochi Central Station, where Rose directly came and lodged a complaint on Tuesday, would be the investigating officer, he said.

"A special investigation team has been formed. The circle inspector of the central station is entrusted with the investigation. Besides him, the team will also comprise the personnel of the central station and of the cyber cell," the officer said.

When asked about the further proceedings, the senior officer said non-bailable sections have also been slapped against the accused and necessary steps would be taken by the SIT soon.

"The statement of the complainant will be recorded first. The other steps will be taken after that," he added.

Based on the complaint lodged by the actress, the Central Police on Tuesday night registered a case against Chemmanur under various sections of the BNS and Section 67 of the IT Act.

The issue came to light for the first time on Sunday when the actress posted on Facebook, accusing an individual of stalking her and making sexually inappropriate remarks through various media platforms, which she claimed outraged her modesty.

However, she had not revealed the identity of the man at that time.

The issue intensified after several people posted offensive comments on her post, prompting Rose to contact the police. The Kochi Central Police had registered a case against 30 people and arrested one of them on this complaint.

Rose, on Tuesday, again came up with a fresh social media post revealing the identity of the person against whom she made sexual harassment allegations in her first complaint.

In the post addressing Boby Chemmannur, she said she filed a complaint against him at the Kochi Central Station.

"I have filed a complaint with the Ernakulam Central Police Station against your (Chemmanur) continuous derogatory remarks about me. I will take the same action against your supporters who share the same mentality. You can continue to rely on your wealth, but I have faith in the Indian legal system," she said in her Facebook post.

She also warned others with a "similar mindset" to face legal action. In the Facebook post, Rose further told the businessman to continue believing in his money power.

Rejecting the actress's charges, Chemmanur, however, said there were no such issues between them as raised by her. He claimed that he didn't use any derogatory term, as alleged by her, and he always interacted with her in a friendly manner.

The jeweller further claimed that he behaves decently with women and said he discussed the matter with his lawyers, who said there was nothing objectionable in what he had said. Rose is known for her roles in a handful of movies in Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu.