NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended by two weeks the interim protection from arrest granted to Malayalam actor Siddique in a rape case on a complaint by a young actress.
Supreme Court Extends Interim Protection to Actor Siddique in 2016 Rape Case
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma did not agree to a vehement opposition by the Kerala government to the interim relief to the veteran actor after noting the incidents was of 2016 and if the petitioner were to destroy evidence, he would have already done it.
The state government led by senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, cited two fold apprehension, one he is not cooperating and second he is destroying the evidence.
He said the petitioner comes up with a written statement everytime he appears before the police saying that he does not want to answer to any query on the ground that he cannot recollect anything.
He has deactivated his Facebook account. He does not want to give access to that the state has to ask third parties to give details, the counsel said.
Kerala Government Raises Concerns Over Non-Cooperation and Evidence Tampering
“There are 30 FIRs. The ladies who have come forward, they are feeling demoralised. They believe they will not get justice. The report of the Justice Hema committee was kept under wraps for 5 years’. Till the high court intervened and directed that this report may be published. In 2024, 2019 report came and everything was included in that report,” he said.
Advocate Vrinda Grover for the complainant said that it is not that the victim was silent for many years, she has been writing about it on Facebook.
“It will be demonstrated that she repeatedly raised the issue. It is very difficult to go against the superstar and survive in the industry. She has already paid a price for that….there is now a report by a former judge which says compromise and adjustment is the pattern in the industry,” she said.
Senior advocate V Giri, who appeared for Siddique, sought time to file a rejoinder to the status report filed by the police.
The court extended the interim anticipatory bail granted to Siddique by two weeks.
In a status report, the Kerala police claimed a stockpile of evidence against the actor.
It said it was imperative to expose the actor as his brutality has crossed all limits.
The police asked the court to dismiss his petition, as in view of considerable influence and clout, some of the evidence will be tampered and witnesses will be threatened.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Narcotic Cell, Thiruvananthapuram City said it is imperative Siddique is unmasked.
"It is essential to expose his lie of righteousness before he goes down in history as a hero and gets venerated by subsequent generations as worthy of emulation," it said.
On September 30, this 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 police said Siddique, who has acted in over 350 Malayalam movies, was a member and former general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists, an organisation that centralised all power in the movie industry.
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 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.
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