The Supreme Court granted prominent Malayalam actor Siddique anticipatory bail on Tuesday in a rape case registered against him after an actress filed accusations against him. A bench comprised of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Bela Trivedi decided to make the September 30 temporary anticipatory bail permanent.
However, the actor was ordered by the top court to surrender his passport to the investigating officer and cooperate with the investigation. After the public release of the Justice K Hema Committee report in August, a wave of sexual misconduct allegations rocked the Malayalam film industry, which coincided with Siddique’s charges. The investigation exposed gender discrimination and large-scale sexual abuse in the film industry.
The court noted the 8-year delay in filing the FIR as a ground to grant bail: “We deem it appropriate not to assign elaborate reasons, particularly considering the sensitivity of the case. However, considering the fact that the complainant had filed the complaint almost eight years after the alleged incident, which had taken place in 2016, and the complainant had also posted the posts on Facebook somewhere in 2018, making allegations about 14 people, including the appellant, with regard to the alleged sexual abuse and also the fact that she had not gone to the Hema Committee, which was set up by the Government of Kerala, we are inclined to accept the present appeal,” the bench observed in the order.
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