The Supreme Court has granted anticipatory bail to Malayalam actor Siddique in a rape case that surfaced during a wave of sexual assault allegations by former actresses in the southern film industry. Siddique, who was accused of sexual assault by a young actress earlier this year, has denied the charges.
The bench, consisting of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma, stated that the lower court would determine any additional conditions for his bail.
The court observed that the complaint against Siddique was filed in August, approximately eight years after the alleged incident in 2016. It also noted that the actress had not approached the Justice Hema Committee, which was tasked with investigating MeToo allegations in the Malayalam film industry.
Siddique had previously been denied anticipatory bail by the Kerala High Court on September 24 due to the seriousness of the charges. Following this, the Kerala police issued an arrest warrant. Siddique then approached the Supreme Court, which granted him interim protection from arrest.
In an affidavit filed earlier this month, Siddique accused the Kerala Police of fabricating false charges against him and attempting to orchestrate a "media trial." In its status report, the police claimed that Siddique had not cooperated with the investigation, alleging that he hindered the probe by destroying electronic devices and deleting his social media accounts.
The case emerged amid a surge of sexual assault allegations against prominent Malayalam film personalities, triggered by the Justice Hema Committee's report. Formed in 2017, the committee's report, released in August, highlighted instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the industry. Following the revelation of several names in these cases, the Kerala government formed a seven-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to further investigate the matter.
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