Malayalam actor Siddique resigns from AMMA after being accused of sexual assault by Revathy Sampath

Siddique Pic/Instagram

Malayalam actor Siddique, who held the position of the general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) resigned on Sunday following allegations of sexual misconduct by actress Revathy Sampath. Siddique is a popular actor who has appeared in over 300 Malayalam movies. He has also acted in Tamil films such as ‘Jana' and ‘Bhaskar Oru Rascal'.

A source informed The New Indian Express, "He has sent a letter to the president of the association, Mohanlal, informing him of his voluntary resignation from the post on Sunday morning.

Siddique reportedly told ONmanorama, "I am stepping down from the position in light of the allegations against me."

What happened with Revathy Sampath

In a media interaction, Revathy alleged that the incident happened when she was 21 years old. She stated that Siddique initially contacted her on Facebook, addressing her as "Mole," a term often used in Kerala to refer to a young girl or daughter.

"After completing my Plus Two, I had a terrible experience. Siddique sent me messages on Facebook. I had come to discuss a film. This incident occurred when I was 21 years old. He first approached me by calling me 'Mole.' There was abuse from Siddique's side. During the discussion, he sexually abused me. The face he shows now is not the one I saw back then," Revanthy said.

Alleging that Siddique sexually abused her, both physically and mentally, the actress said, "He assaulted me, both physically and mentally. Siddique is a criminal. I went through severe mental trauma. It even affected my professional life. No system stood by me. It took me a long time to speak out. After the assault, Siddique acted as if nothing had happened and stood before me like it was normal. Everyone responded as if it was a common occurrence. It felt like they all did it knowingly."

Speaking on how she managed to escape the situation, the actress added, "I ran away to escape. I responded as best as I could at that age. He said there was nothing I could do. I fled, managed to get into an auto, and escaped."

Siddique on Hema Committee report

Siddique's resignation comes amid the backdrop of the Hema Committee report that has brought the conversations around sexual misconduct in the Malayalam film industry.

Earlier, Siddique noted that they have been accused of staying silent and that there has been no response from the AMMA on the report.

"I have been in the industry for the past four decades and I can say with absolute conviction no power group, as mentioned in the report, exists because this is a film industry and no such groups can exist, neither there is a casting couch... We have no qualms that if there is any crime anywhere, it has to be probed and we want to book the wrongdoers if there are any," Siddique said.

(With inputs from Agencies)