Female actor welcomes Kerala HC order denying pre-arrest bail to actor Sidhique

Kochi: The female actor who has accused Malayalam film actor Sidhique of rape on Tuesday welcomed the Kerala High Court decision dismissing his anticipatory bail plea, saying that she was happy with the verdict.

The woman also said that going forward she expects she will get justice in the case.

“I am super happy with the verdict. I see it as a positive light,” she said.

She, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which the probe was being carried out by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the case, saying that it did not maintain the confidentiality of the information regarding the matter.

She claimed that the SIT did not show the required sensitivity in the matter as minute details of her case were leaked to the media.

“So, I am dissatisfied with the SIT in that regard. I have sent a complaint to the DGP highlighting this aspect,” she told reporters after the Kerala High Court dismissed the actor’s anticipatory bail plea.

The woman alleged that the accused actor was given time by the SIT to destroy the electronic evidence in his possession.

He also had the time to influence or threaten the witnesses in the case, she said.

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Malayalam film actor Sidhique in a rape case against him, saying that in view of the seriousness of the accusations he was facing, his custodial interrogation was inevitable for proper investigation of the crime.

Justice C S Dias said that since Sidhique’s defence was “a total denial of the incident”, his potency test was yet to be conducted and there being a “reasonable apprehension” that he may intimidate witnesses and tamper with evidence, “it was not a fit case to exercise the discretionary powers of the court” to grant him the relief.

Sidhique, who was booked for offences under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation), had claimed in his plea that the complainant female actor, had subjected him to a “prolonged campaign of harassment and false accusations since 2019”.

He had resigned from his post as general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) following the allegations against him by the female actor.

Multiple FIRs have been registered against many high-profile Malayalam film personalities following allegations of sexual harassment against various directors and actors in the wake of revelations in the Justice K Hema Committee report.

The committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case and its report revealing instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry.

Following the allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation cropping up against several actors and directors, the state government on August 25 announced the establishment of a seven-member special investigation team to probe them.