Actor Vijay Babu ‘excluded’ from AMMA executive panel

KOCHI: Actor and producer Vijay Babu, who stands accused of raping a young actress, has been ‘excluded’ from the executive committee of Association of Malayalam Movie Actors (AMMA). The decision was taken at the executive committee meeting held on Sunday in Kochi.
AMMA general secretary Edavela Babu said that the actor decided to ‘temporarily step down’ from the executive committee till his innocence is proved, and submitted a letter to the office-bearers regarding the same. Babu said that the executive committee discussed the letter and approved his decision.
The press note issued by AMMA said that Vijay Babu decided to temporarily step down from the executive committee in the wake of the recent allegations against him as it would bring disgrace to the organization. Following this, the committee decided to exclude him.
Earlier, AMMA’s internal complaints committee led by Shwetha Menon recommended disciplinary action against Babu and the executive committee meeting was held on Sunday to discuss this.
Ever since Vijay Babu was accused of rape and the actor revealed the name of the complaint in live video on Facebook, there were wide criticisms against his action. There was strong criticism from various corners for the silence of organizations in the film industry on Babu’s involvement in the rape case.
Women Collective in Cinema (WCC) demanded him to be expelled from all film industry-related organizations. WCC is yet to respond to the actor’s decision to be excluded from the executive committee and AMMA’s approval of it.
Meanwhile, the actor is yet to surrender before the police. Also, the police are trying to identify the woman who raised another sexual harassment allegation against Vijay Babu.