(Trivandrum) ‹ Five students have been expelled from a college in Kerala for associating with a film on homosexuals.

The students, who are studying for media courses at the St. Joseph¹s College of Communication, Changanacherry in Kottayam, had made the film for a festival being organised by a private college in the state capital exclusively for the homosexuals.

The film entitled Secret Minds was directed by Geo Baby, a post graduate student in cinema and television, for the competition section of the film festival. The other four students, who are doing B.A multi-media, had acted in the film.

The college authorities initiated action against the students saying that the film in which they performed nude was obscene and could misguide youths. [...]

...the students denied the charge that they had acted nude in the film. "We have acted semi-nude to do justice to the theme of the film. No females were involved in the film", the students pointed out. They argued that the film was not intended for public screening and hence terming it obscene could not be justified. The students have described the action against them an attack on the freedom of expression.