New Delhi, Oct 22 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended by two weeks the interim anticipatory bail granted to Malayalam actor Siddique in a case lodged against him for allegedly raping a young actress eight years back.
The alleged victim filed the complaint earlier this year.
A bench comprising Justices Bela Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma adjourned the hearing after Senior Advocate V Giri, appearing on behalf of Siddique, sought time to file a rejoinder to the status report filed by the Kerala Police opposing his petition.
Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing on behalf of the State of Kerala, submitted that Siddique was not cooperating with the investigation, but rather destroying the evidence.
When Justice Trivedi pointed out that the complaint was filed by the victim eight years after the alleged incident, Ranjit Kumar explained the developments related to the Justice Hema Committee’s report on the abuses faced by women in the Malayalam cinema industry.
Kumar submitted that the victim mustered the courage to come out with the allegations following the publication of the Hema Committee report and requested the court to understand the delay in the filing of the FIR in that context.
Kumar said the actress has been continuously writing on Facebook from 2018 onwards.
Siddique had destroyed the electronic gadgets and deactivated his social media account to hinder the investigation, Kumar told the court.
Kumar informed that about thirty FIRs have been filed against Siddique by other women actors.
They are feeling demoralised because of the grant of protection to Siddique, Kumar said,
Kumar alleged that Siddique was not cooperating. He comes with a prepared statement that he won’t answer anything more and that he can’t recollect. Secondly, after the FIR, he has closed his Facebook account.
“He does not want us to get access to that. We have to approach third parties to access,” Kumar said.
Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for the victim, said she had been repeatedly raising the issue in her Facebook account since 2018 and that it was difficult to go against a superstar in the industry.
“The actress said that she had already paid the price for it. Now there is the Justice Hema Committee report that says that compromise and adjustment is a pattern in the industry,” Grover submitted.
Justice Hema Committee report regarding the exploitations faced by women in Malayalam cinema said that the woman actress publicly alleged that Siddique sexually exploited her in 2016 when she met him in a hotel room after he offered her opportunities in the film industry.
Following her public allegations, she lodged an FIR under Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code in 2024.
On September 30, the SC bench granted interim relief to Siqqique for two weeks.
