The Kerala police are on the lookout for actor Siddique, who has allegedly absconded after the Kerala High Court denied him anticipatory bail in a rape case. The High Court, on Tuesday, September 24, dismissed his anticipatory bail petition saying that there is prima facie evidence to show Siddique’s involvement in the crime and that his custodial interrogation is ‘inevitable’ for the case. Siddique was booked by the Museum police in Thiruvananthapuram on August 27 under charges of rape and criminal intimidation, based on the complaint filed by a young actor.
According to multiple reports, Siddique has been absconding since the bail dismissal and is set to move the Supreme Court on Wednesday, September 25. The Kerala high court had said that the petitioner’s custodial interrogation was “inevitable” for the proper investigation of the crime, “especially since his defence is a total denial of the incident.” Further, the court also said that the prosecution had a “reasonable apprehension” that Siddique might intimidate the witnesses and tamper with the evidence.
The young actor-survivor had alleged that Siddique invited her to a hotel and sexually assaulted her. Siddique, however, denied the allegations. He also resigned from the general secretary position of the Association of the Malayalam Movie Artistes (A.M.M.A.) – the largest actors’ association in Malayalam cinema. The survivor had spoken up about the alleged assault in 2019 too. But in the wake of the Hema Committee report which has triggered a new Me Too wave in the Malayalam film industry, the survivor approached the police and filed a complaint.
The Justice Hema Committee report was published on August 19, nearly five years after its submission, and revealed the wide prevalence of rampant human rights violation including sexual harassment in the film industry. After the report was made public, many women actors came out publicly to share their horrid experiences of harassment. Some of them named prominent actors, directors, and production controllers.