The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended Malayalam actor Siddique’s pre-arrest bail in a rape case and questioned the delay in filing a case against the 61-year-old actor.
The extension of these matters came weeks after the high court granted Siddique bail before his arrest on September 30 on the condition that he appear before the police for questioning and cooperate with the investigation.
The case was registered on August 19 based on the complaint filed by the actress, where she alleged that Siddique raped her in a hotel in 2016. That same year, he also tried to sexually assault her in the theater before the rape incident. .
On Tuesday, a bench comprising Justice Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma made the comments while hearing the bail plea filed by Siddique.
“A complaint is filed after 8 years?” Justice Trivedi asked.
In response, senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, representing the state of Kerala, said that, although the complainant had highlighted the incident on Facebook years ago, it took a survivor to have the courage to formally report such an incident.
“She has been posting on Facebook. It took some time to find the courage,” said Kumar.
Echoing Kumar’s words, Vrinda Grover, another lawyer representing the plaintiff, said, “It is not a question of silence for 8 years. It takes time and you face the consequences.”
Appearing for Siddique, senior advocate VV Giri got time to respond to the status report filed by the Kerala Police opposing his plea and told the court that the actor appeared before the investigating officer after getting bail before being arrested.
The actor denied the allegations against him and said that the complainant involved him in “a long campaign of harassment and false accusations since 2019”.
However, he resigned as the general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA).
The actress filed her case after the release of the Hema Committee report that shed light on the widespread and ongoing sexual harassment faced by women in Malayalam cinema, many of whom say they face unwanted advances even before starting work.
Several FIRs have been registered against many prominent Malayalam film actors following allegations of sexual harassment against them after the revelations made in the Hema Committee report.
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