Supreme Court Extends Bail Granted To Malayalam Actor Siddique In Rape Case

The Supreme Court extended by two weeks the interim anticipatory bail granted to Malayalam actor Siddique in a rape case registered against him based on allegations levelled by a young actress.

Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar appearing for the Kerala government told the top court that Siddique was not cooperating with the investigation

Source : https://www.instagram.com/actor.sidhique

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended by two weeks the interim anticipatory bail granted to Malayalam actor Siddique in a rape case registered against him based on allegations levelled by a young actress.

A bench comprising Justices Bela Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma adjourned the hearing today on request made by Siddique's counsel.

Senior Advocate V Giri appearing for Siddique sought more time from the court to file a rejoinder to the status report filed by the Kerala Police opposing his petition. He further told court that the actor was has appeared for investigation before the police.

However, Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar appearing for the Kerala government told the top court that Siddique was not cooperating with the investigation and had destroyed electronic gadgets and deactivated his social media account to hinder the investigation.

Kumar told the court that the actor comes with a prepared statement and does not answers anything more by saying he can't recollect. He further told the court that the actor has has closed his Facebook account, so that the police cannot get access to that. Kumar informed the top court about complaints filed by other women and how they are feeling demoralised by the protection granted to him against arrest.

Justice Bela Trivedi pointed out the eight year delay caused by the complainant in reporting the alleged incident. The Kerala state counsel however said that the developments are a result of the Justice Hema Committee's report related to abuses faced by women in the Malayalam cinema industry.

He further told the court that the victim has been writing Facebook posts since 2018 and the victim mustered the courage to come out with the allegations following the publication of the Hema Committee report.

In a big relief to Malayalam actor Siddique, the  Supreme Court on September 30 granted him an interim protection from arrest in a rape case registered against him based on allegations by a Malayalam actress.

On September 24, the Kerala High Court dismissed his petition seeking anticipatory bail, observing that the materials on record indicated his prima facie involvement in the crime. The High Court also held that the acts alleged against Siddique would come within the ambit of the expanded definition of "rape".