A Bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma provided Siddique interim protection from arrest for two weeks, directing him to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
Published Sep 30, 2024 | 2:50 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 30, 2024 | 5:58 PM
Actor Siddique granted anticipatory bail by Supreme Court. (Instagram)
The Supreme Court on Monday, 30 September, granted anticipatory bail to Malayalam actor Siddique in connection with a rape case filed against him by an actress.
A Bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma provided Siddique interim protection from arrest for two weeks, directing him to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
The Supreme Court, while granting the anticipatory bail stated that there shall be no arrest of the petitioner, subject to conditions set by the trial court and his cooperation with the investigation.
The hearing comes in response to a petition by Siddique, challenging the Kerala High Court’s 24 September decision to deny him bail. The case stems from a complaint by an actress accusing Siddique of raping her at the Mascot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016.
Following the filing of the complaint, Siddique resigned from his position as the general secretary of AMMA, the actors’ association.
Earlier, during the hearing, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Siddique, emphasized the delay in filing the complaint, pointing out that the incident allegedly took place in 2016, while the complaint was lodged only in 2024.
Rohatgi also pointed out that while others have received bail, his client is being denied it. He further highlighted that the complaint was filed after an eight-year delay, primarily based on some Facebook posts.
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday, 24 September, rejected Siddique’s anticipatory bail plea after reviewing key evidence presented by the investigation team.
Justice CS Dias, of the Kerala High Court during the hearing took strong objection to Siddique’s arguments against the victim for being silent all these years and raising complaints of sexual assault against “14 men”.
The high court while rejecting the bail plea, noted: “The survivor has explicitly described the trauma that she endured due to the incident, which was agonising that it inhibited her from disclosing the details to anyone, including her parents. In 2019, she mustered the courage to address the harassment in a Facebook post. Following this disclosure, the survivor received threatening messages, whereby she lost the courage to complain. The survivor has been living in a state of continuous trauma, fear and distress and continues to harbour fears for her life.”
The order further read: “Whether the survivor’s above explanation is plausible will have to be ultimately evaluated and decided after a full-fledged trial. Nevertheless, the contention that the above delay vitiates the entire prosecution case is not a ground for scraping the complaint, particularly while considering a bail application. Victims of sexual abuse and assault may experience psychological, emotional and social barriers that feed the delay in reporting the matter, which necessarily has to be understood in the context of the trauma.”
In the case of raising complaints against other men, the court noted, “The survivor has been characterized as an outspoken and vociferous lady who has made unsubstantiated allegations against fourteen men; therefore, her complaint lacks credibility. The submission is unwarranted and reflects an uncharitable view of the survivor’s circumstances. A woman’s experiences of sexual assault are not a reflection of her character but rather an indication of her suffering. The attempt to blame a woman for speaking out may be a strategy to silence her, which is hostile to the supremacy of the law.”
The high court also held that the acts alleged against Siddique would come within the ambit of the expanded definition of “rape”.
After Kerala High Court rejected the anticipatory bail plea Siddique went absconding.
Police probe found that individuals connected to a well-known lawyer in Kochi have been aiding Siddique with hideouts. Sources said authorities have tracked his movement across at least six locations around Kochi over the last two days.
On Wednesday, 25 September, notices with Siddique’s photograph and contact details of the investigation team were distributed for publication in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka newspapers.
Following the orders, the lookout notices were published in the daily newspapers, especially in Kerala. The notice, published in both Malayalam and English newspapers, stated that Siddique is currently absconding and urged the public to immediately inform the police if they have any information regarding his whereabouts.
Meanwhile, the relatives of actor Siddique’s son have raised allegations that two of his friends, Naahi and Paul, residents of Kochi, were taken into police custody. According to the families, police officers arrived at their homes early morning, between 4:15 AM and 5:15 AM, and detained the two men.
The families claim that Naahi and Paul were questioned by police regarding Siddique’s whereabouts, but no formal reason was provided for their detention.
Despite the allegations, the Kochi police have denied detaining anyone related to the case. The relatives have lodged a formal complaint with the Kochi City Police Commissioner, Shyam Sunder IPS, accusing the authorities of failing to follow proper legal procedures. The families also expressed concern about the current location and safety of the detained men, stating they have no information about their whereabouts.
The Kerala government constituted the Justice Hema Committee after the 2017 actress assault case and its report revealed instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry.
The publication of the Justice K Hema Committee report opened a can of worms with several female actors stepping forward with disturbing accounts of the mistreatment they faced at the hands of their various male counterparts.
The Hema Commission report was made public on 19 August, five years after it was submitted to the Kerala government.
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula, with inputs from Dileep V Kumar)
