Will not return till cleared, Dileep tells actor's group

With the row over revocation of his suspension from Malayali actors' body AMMA heating up after three top actresses demanded its urgent meeting to discuss the matter, actor Dileep on Thursday said he will not return to the association till he gets cleared in the case of abducting and sexually assaulting an actress.

In a letter to Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) General Secretary Edavela Babu, Dileep, who is currently out on bail after being in jail for 85 days, said that he has learned from the media that the AMMA general body meeting held on Sunday held that the Executive Committee decision to suspend him was not done as per the by-laws and would not stand.

"I am happy that such a decision has been taken, but now that I am facing a case in which I have done nothing wrong, I do not wish to be active in any body till I come clean. I am deeply pained in hearing various criticism against AMMA in my name. I wish the newly elected committee of AMMA all the best," said Dileep in the letter, a copy of which has been posted in the public domain.

Dileep's action came after top actresses Revathy Asha Kelunni, Padmapriya Janakiraman and A. Parvathy wrote to Edavela Babu and demanded an emergency executive meeting to be called on July 13 or 14 to discuss his reinstatement.

The open letter was also posted on the Facebook page of the newly-formed Women in Cinema Collective (WCC).

As women members of AMMA, the three actresses expressed concern over its Sunday decision to bring back an expelled member who was involved in an alleged assault of another women member from the same organisation.

"At this meeting, a very crucial decision was taken... Considering the gravity of the circumstances and the matter being sub judice, it is shocking that such an important matter was decided without listing it on the agenda or being discussed among all members prior to the meeting.

"AMMA had publicly pledged full support to the member who survived the assault but the decision taken for reinstating the expelled member who is now a chargesheeted suspect goes against the promise made to the survivor," they said.

As a result, on Wednesday, "the survivor resigned and in solidarity with her three other women members have also resigned", the actresses said.

"This does not reflect well on AMMA," it said.

Earlier, the Kerala State Women's Commission slammed superstar Mohanlal, who heads AMMA, over the reinstatement of Dileep who is an accused in the February 2017 actress kidnapping case.

This was the first decision taken by the new committee under Mohanlal.

Kerala Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty on Thursday expressed surprise in the manner in which AMMA revoked Dileep's suspension.

"It should not be forgotten that actors are icons and they should be perfect role models, but this decision that they took is baffling," she said.

All eyes are on superstar Mammootty, who had announced the decision to remove Dileep from AMMA. However, he is not an office bearer any more.