Vineeth Sreenivasan says 'plenty of proof' for Nivin Pauly shooting in Kerala on day of alleged sexual assault incident in Dubai

Vineeth Sreenivasan and Nivin Pauly

Malayalam film actor and director Vineeth Sreenivasan has come out in defense of actor Nivin Pauly speaking about the rape allegations against him. Earlier this week, a woman accused movie star Pauly of sexually assaulting her in Dubai along with a few others. She had claimed that the incident happened in November and December of 2023 in Dubai when she was called under the pretext of being offered a role in the movies. Now, Vineeth has said that Nivin was with him from December 14 till the early hours of December 15 shooting for their film 'Varshangalkku Shesham'.

Talking to Malayalam channel Reporter Live, Vineeth said that Nivin was shooting with the team in Kochi. He said that they were shooting the climax scene which is set inside a theatre. He also said that the scenes were shot in the presence of 100s of junior artists who can also vouch for Pauly's presence.

"Nivin was with us filming in Kochi on December 14 and 15, 2023. We began the shoot on the 14th morning at Nucleus mall in Kochi. I remember the dates as I was personally coordinating his dates. After lunch we moved the shooting to Crown Plaza," the filmmaker said.

Vineeth said that there is plenty of proof to substantiate Nivin's presence on set on December 14 till the early morning of December 15. "We had booked a room under Nivin's name at Crown Plaza. There is CCTV footage as well. On-location stills will also have the date and time of the photographs captured which will prove the same. There is plenty of proof," he assured.

Vineeth also shared that Nivin was with them in Munnar for the film's shoot on December 1, 2,3 of 2023 as well. He rejoined the shoot on December 14. The filmmaker also said that Nivin had given him only four days to shoot as we was simultaneously shooting for a web series called 'Pharma'. The shoot of the series was also in Kerala, the filmmaker shared.

According to Reporter Live, the creator of 'Pharma' has also confirmed that Nivin was shooting with them in Kerala in December.

What the complainant said

Speaking to the same channel, the complainant had said that she had returned to Kerala from Dubai on December 17. She said that the sexual assault incident happened in the days leading to her return to India. When the reporter asked if it happened between December 13-17, she confirmed the same.

What Nivin Pauly said

Soon after the allegations were made, Nivin Pauly wasted no time and called for a press conference. He confidently dismissed the allegations as fake and said that he will fight it legally. "This is a deliberate allegation and I believe there is a conspiracy behind it".

He further said that he did not know the complainant and had never seen or spoken to her.

The actor said that around one-and-a-half months ago, an officer of Oonnukal police station had called him over the phone and told him that they have received a sexual assault complaint against him from a woman.

"When I denied knowledge about the allegations, the officer said they were convinced that the complaint was false and they were going to close it," he said.
The actor further said that the officer and his lawyer advised him not to file a case against the complainant as some persons make such complaints merely for publicity. "So, I did not pursue that then," he said.

Pauly said he will take all possible legal measures to prove his innocence and will fight it to the very end as he believes that "we need to put a stop to such fake allegations".

"So, I will fight it, not just for me, but for others who might face such fake allegations in the future," he said.