REFUGEE

Tamil film industry is caught in the eye of a storm that erupted following the arrest of actress Bhuvaneshwari on October 4 on charges of being involved in a sex racket. She was arrested from her house in Adyar, Chennai from where she operated this inter-state sex racket along with few men. The actress then reportedly gave out a list of actresses, who are allegedly involved in flesh trade and a leading daily published it too. This naturally irked the Tamil film fraternity and leading stars including Sarath Kumar, the President of the South Indian Artiste Association or the ‘Nadigar Samgam’, visited the Chennai City Police Commissioner demanding action against the daily which brought out the ‘confession’. The ‘Nadigar Sangam’ has also declared that it will initiate legal actions against the daily that has thus published unconfirmed news, thereby causing unwarranted trouble for many actresses and their families.
On October 7, the ‘Nadigar Samgam’ organised a press-meet that was attended by the leading film personalities in Tamil, including directors and producers too. The meeting, chaired by Nadigar Sangam president Sarath Kumar, was attended by the likes of Rajinikanth, Vijaykanth, Suriya, Radha Ravi, Sripriya, Seetha, Sathyaraj, Vijayakumar, Radhika, Cheran etc. Those who spoke at the protest meet, including Rajinikanth, Vijaykanth, Sarath Kumar etc., expressed their anger against baseless reports coming in the media and resolved to take steps to meet such malicious moves.

In a recent development, the Chennai Police have reportedly arrested the news editor of the daily that had brought out the ‘confession’ and related reports. The arrest has reportedly been made under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Women Harassment Act and he was sent to judicial custody. Things haven’t ended with this. The issue is still raging as this report is being filed. The press-fraternity in Chennai are all set to go in for a press meet condemning the moves initiated against the media and the freedom of the press.