No provisional bail for actor Siddique in rape case

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday, September 24, rejected the plea seeking interim bail in the rape case against him. The noted actor was arrested by the Thiruvananthapuram Museum Police on August 27 on charges of rape and criminal intimidation based on a complaint by a young actor. Justice CS Dias passed the order and further details are awaited.

The survivor said in her complaint that Siddique allegedly invited her to a hotel and … Siddique, however, denied the allegations. He is also the general secretary of the Association of the Malayalam Movie Artistes – the largest actors’ association in Malayalam cinema, which was formerly headed by Mohanlal. The survivor had also spoken out about the alleged assault in 2019. But in the wake of the Hema Committee report, which has triggered a new Me Too wave in the Malayalam film industry, the survivor approached the police and filed a complaint.

The Justice Hema Committee report was released on August 19, almost five years after it was submitted, and revealed the widespread sexual harassment in the film industry. After the report was released, many actresses came forward publicly and recounted their horrific experiences of harassment. Some of them named prominent actors, directors and production managers.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of filmmaker Ranjith in the alleged sexual harassment case by Bengali actress Sreelekha Mitra and actor Jayasurya in the sexual assault case on the grounds that the respective sections under which they are accused were not bailable offences at the time they were committed.