Malayalam filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan booked over actress's complaint

Elamakkara Police here registered a case against the 'Kayattam' director under various sections of the BNS for alleged stalking, criminal intimidation, and defamation, police added.

Kochi: Noted Malayalam filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan has been booked on charges of harassing a prominent actress on a social media platform, police said on Tuesday.

Elamakkara Police here registered a case against the 'Kayattam' director under various sections of the BNS for alleged stalking, criminal intimidation, and defamation, they added.

The actress lodged a complaint on Monday, and a case was registered against him, they said. In a recent Facebook post, the director claimed that the lives of the actress and her daughter were under threat.

Interestingly, he shared the copy of the FIR registered against him in this case on his FB page on Monday, claiming that someone else had given a complaint against him in the name of the actress.

Sasidharan had been arrested and released on bail in May 2022, based on the complaint from the same actress, for allegedly blackmailing her and maligning her reputation through social media platforms.

Meanwhile, sources said that the accused filmmaker has been staying in the US for some time.

When asked about this, Kochi City Police Commissioner Putta Vimaladitya said on Tuesday that all legal steps and necessary measures would be taken against the accused if he is abroad.

He said that steps would also be taken to remove his Facebook post, as it allegedly contained defamatory content.

The officer further said that the victim could also approach Facebook to request the removal of the alleged defamatory content from the social media platform.