Malayalam actor Siddique granted pre-arrest bail by Supreme Court in rape case

The relief to the Malayalam actor came days after the Kerala High Court refused the pre-arrest bail plea in the sexual assault case.

In Short

• Relief comes on the condition that Siddique will cooperate in police probe
• Kerala High Court denied relief to Siddique in sexual assault case
• Malayalam actress filed sexual assault complaint against Siddique

The Supreme Court on Monday granted interim protection from arrest to Malayalam actor Siddique in a sexual assault case lodged against him by an actress. The relief to the Malayalam actor came days after the Kerala High Court refused the pre-arrest bail plea in the sexual assault case.

The top court provided the pre-arrest bail to Siddiqe on the condition that he would appear before police for questioning and cooperate with the investigation.

A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma also issued notice to the Kerala government and the actress in the case during the hearing of the plea by Siddique challenging a Kerala High Court order.

An FIR was filed against Siddique in connection with the sexual assault allegations by an actress in August this year. The case was registered by the Trivandrum Museum Police under the non-bailable offence of rape based on the complaint.

Speaking about the case, Siddique, who was charged with offences under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), claimed that the complainant actress had subjected him to a "prolonged campaign of harassment and false accusations since 2019".

Siddique also claimed that the complainant is making these allegations because he conducted a press conference along with other office bearers of the Association of Malayalam Movie Actors (AMMA) after the release of the Justice Hema Committee report.

The Hema Committee report shed light on the widespread and persistent sexual harassment faced by women in the Malayalam cinema, with many alleging they were subjected to unwanted advances even before commencing work.

Multiple FIRs have been registered against many high-profile Malayalam film personalities following allegations of sexual harassment against them in the wake of revelations made in the Hema Committee report.