The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Malayalam actor Siddique in a rape case registered against him on the complaint of an actor, Bar and Bench reported.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma also asked why the woman had waited eight years after the alleged assault to file a complaint, while confirming the interim protection from arrest granted by the court to Siddique on September 30.
The woman had accused Siddique of raping her at a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016. She posted about the matter on social media in 2018. In August, the police booked Siddique for rape and criminal intimidation based on a complaint filed by the woman.
He was also accused of illegally detaining and threatening her.
Siddique moved the Supreme Court seeking interim relief after the Kerala High Court denied him anticipatory bail on September 24. The High Court had noted that the available evidence suggested his involvement in the case.
The complainant is among several women from the Malayalam film industry who have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by their male colleagues after the release of the Justice Hema committee report in August.
At the hearing on Tuesday, Trivedi orally asked why the woman had “the courage to post on Facebook [about her allegations against Siddique] but not go to the police station”.
Advocate Vrinda Grover, representing the woman, said that the post on social media was an attempt to speak out about the incident, Bar and Bench reported. The young actor also faced backlash from Siddique’s followers after she posted about the matter, Grover added.
It was only with the publication of the Hema Committee report in August and the intervention of the Kerala High Court on matters arising from it that the woman found the courage to file a complaint, Grover added, according to Bar and Bench.
“It is only when she feels there is an authority that will listen, she came forward,” Grover said. “The trial will suffer if he [Siddique] is not interrogated.”
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Siddique, said that the woman had made similar claims against “all and sundry” on social media. “Is it possible?” he asked.“See her Facebook posts. How reputations are tarnished.”
In the order granting anticipatory bail to Siddique, the bench took into account the “fact that the complainant had lodged the complaint almost eight years after the alleged incident in 2016 and she had also posted the post on Facebook somewhere in 2018 making allegations about 14 people, including the appellant, with regard to alleged sexual abuse meted out”.
The court noted that the woman had also not approached the Hema Committee with her complaint.
“We are inclined to accept the present appeal subject to conditions,” the court said. “In that view of the matter, in event of the arrest of appellant he shall be released on bail subject to terms of trial court including the surrender of passport to IO [investigating officer].”
Other members of the Malayalam film industry who have been booked on charges of sexual misconduct after the release of the Justice Hema committee report include actor and Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA M Mukesh, actor Jayasurya and director VA Shrikumar Menon.