Malayalam actor-politician Mukesh accused of sexual harassment as #MeToo list grows

Malayalam actor Mukesh who is also a legislator of the ruling CPI(M), has become the latest film personality to be accused of sexual harassment after a Mumbai-based casting director took to Twitter on Tuesday to highlight an incident 19 years ago.

In her tweet, Tess Joseph alleged that when she was directing the Malayalam TV programme ‘Koteeswaran’ (Malayalam version of Kaun Benega Crorepati), Mukesh Kumar who was the host, called her a couple of times and even got her hotel room changed next to his.

She said she immediately contacted her boss Derek O’Brien (now TMC leader) and he arranged an air ticket following which she returned to Mumbai the same night. In the tweet she also thanked O’Brien for the timely intervention.

Mukesh has denied the charges. “I don’t even remember what happened 20 years ago. You can write whatever you want,” he told a news channel.

But Tess Joseph has evoked some support. Actor Bhagyalakshmi backed her saying, “Mukesh will have to explain. More than an actor he is also a law-maker now.”

Over the past couple of weeks, a clutch of high profile men including actors, filmmakers, journalists, musicians and authors have been accused by different women of sexually harassing them.

First Published: Oct 09, 2018 13:12 IST