Anticipatory bail for Malayalam actor Siddique in rape case: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted final anticipatory bail to Malayalam actor Siddique in a rape case registered against him based on allegations levelled by a young actress, by questioning the delay in lodging the FIR in 2024 with regard to the alleged incident in 2016.

A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma also pointed out the victim had the courage to write a Facebook post about but not to approach the police.

After hearing senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Ranjit Kumar appearing for the petitioner and the Kerala government respectively and advocate Vrinda Grover for the victim, the court made as absolute the interim bail granted to the actor.

The court said it was not assigning the elaborate reasons for bail in view of sensitivity involved in the matter.

The bench also noted the alleged incident had taken place in 2016 and the complainant had also made the posts on Facebook somewhere in 2018 making allegations about 14 people including the appellant with regard to the alleged sexual abuse and also the fact that she had not gone to the Hema Committee, which was set up by the Kerala government.

During the hearing, Rohatgi said the actor was a senior citizen and the complaint was filed in 2024 about the incident in 2016. He also claimed the actor had filed the complaint on August 26, 2024 a day before the woman lodged her complaint. He also sought to claim the incident was a fall out of a friction between Association of Malayalam Movie Actors and the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC).

He also said the petitioner cooperated with the police but it was not possible for him to submit the gadget used in 2016. He also claimed the petitioner had met the woman in 2016 only at the Nila theatre for the preview of a film.

Advocate Grover for the victim claimed the actor had approached her in 2014 and began to groom her by liking her photos and messaging her. The accused invited her for preview of a film and took her to Mascot hotel and committee rape upon her, she alleged.

The counsel claimed the woman mustered her courage after publication of the Hema Committee report and the Kerala High Court taking cognisance of it.

The state counsel contended that it was necessary to take the petitioner into custodial interrogation to get details of his social media accounts. It is notable as to why the victim, a less-known actress then, was invited for the preview of the film.

On September 30, the Supreme Court had granted interim protection from arrest to Siddique against the Kerala High Court order, which rejected his plea for anticipatory bail in a rape case.

The case against Siddique was registered based on a complaint by an actress who accused him of raping her at the Mascot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016.

The Malayalam film industry, Mollywood, has been rocked with 17 cases of sexual harassment having been registered following complaints lodged by victims in the wake of the release of the Justice Hema Committee report.

The Justice Hema Committee, established after the 2017 actress assault case, highlighted the exploitation of women in Malayalam cinema, leading to multiple FIRs being registered against high-profile actors and directors. Other actors implicated in sexual assault cases include Jayasurya, Edavela Babu, and Maniyanpilla Raju have also been granted anticipatory bail.