Why Was Filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan Arrested?

Indian poet and filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan was arrested on Thursday after actor Manju Warrier filed a complaint against him.

In her complaint, Manju Warrier accused Sasidharan of defaming her through his social media posts. The complaint was registered at the Elamakkara police station. Warrier claimed that Sasidharan was trying to blackmail her and tarnish her image on social media. Sasidharan was arrested by the police from Parassala in Thiruvananthapuram. During his arrest, the filmmaker went live on Facebook and recorded the drama that ensued before his arrest.

The filmmaker has helmed many popular film projects in the Malayalam industry. He has also worked with Manju Warrier in a film titled 'Kayattam'. In the recent past, Sasidharan made several alarmist social media posts in which he claimed that Warrier's life is in danger.

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In one of his tweets, Sasidharan has claimed that because Manju Warrier gave her statement in the sexual assault case involving Malayalam actor Dileep, she caused harm to the officers involved in the case. Sasidharan further added that he was confirmed of the threat against Warrier when an investigating officer was removed from his post. The filmmaker went as far as to claim that Manju Warrier is not replying to his public posts because she is being held captive by her own manager.

Sasidharan had recently said that he will approach the police regarding his allegations and said that he does not trust the law. He claimed to have filed a complaint with the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) but they did not take any action.

The filmmaker also sent a letter to the President of India and the Chief Justice of India expressing concerns over the law and order situation in the state of Kerala. He outlined the death of transgender woman Shalu's death and the threat to life of Manju Warrier.

In the sexual assault case against actor Dileep, Manju Warrier identified the voice samples of the actor, his brother Anoop and brother-in-law Suraj. The police had called the actor to a hotel in Kochi where they questioned her for about four hours. Warrier was earlier married to the accused man, Dileep. She is also a witness in the sexual assault case of a female actor of Malayalam industry.