In the aftermath of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes’ (AMMA) decision to welcome rape accused Dileep back into their arms, several popular Malayalam actresses have resigned from the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), reports The News Minute.

Dileep is a powerful actor in the Malayalam film industry and is a rape accused in a case involving an actress. While the support for the survivor was loud at first, it soon petered out with many big names in the industry openly extending their support to the accused actor. As toxic masculinity would have it, the survivor was verbally assaulted and cussed out by Dileep’s fans – oftentimes, her only source of support was the WCC.

Now, the first to resign from the Collective is the survivor who, on a personal note, said that she had complained to AMMA when Dileep had tried to snatch opportunities away from her. She added that there was no point in her being part of an organisation which is trying to protect the man accused of rape.

The TNM report also quotes a note from Geetu Mohandas as saying: “I am resigning from AMMA. I should have done this long back. I had understood when I was a working committee member of AMMA that it is tough to question AMMA’s decisions when being a part of it. AMMA needs people who follow the decision of the leadership without questioning. Our voices are getting drowned there. We cannot allow that anymore. I stand with my friend and will fight AMMA’s such irresponsible actions from outside.”

Actor Rima Kallingal and Remya Nambeeshan have also resigned following Dileep’s reinstatement.