Samantha urges T'gana govt to publish report on sexual abuse in Tollywood

Praising the efforts of the Women in Cinema Collective in Kerala, actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu has urged the Telangana government to publish the report of a sub-committee on 'sexual harassment' in the Telugu film industry which can help frame policies to establish a safe working environment for women.

Taking cue from the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), The Voice of Women, a support group for women in TFI (Telugu film industry), was created in 2019, she said on Instagram.

"We, the women of the Telugu film industry, welcome the Hema Committee report and applaud the persistent efforts of the WCC in Kerala, which has laid the path to this moment," she said.

"We hereby urge the Telangana government, to publish the submitted sub-committee report on sexual harassment, which can help frame government and industry policies, to establish a safe working environment for women in the TFI," Samantha said.

The state government had in 2019 constituted a committee, comprising government officials of women welfare and other departments, police officials, representatives of film and TV artistes and other industry representatives to go into issues of harassment of women in the film industry, official sources said.

The committee also had a sub-committee and a report was submitted.