SC grants interim protection from arrest to actor Siddique in rape case

The Supreme Court on Monday granted interim protection from arrest to Malayalam film actor Siddique in a rape case.

A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma issued notice to the Kerala government and the victim in the case during the hearing of a plea by Siddique challenging a Kerala High Court order which denied him anticipatory bail.

At the outset, the top court asked senior advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for the victim, about the reason for the delay in registering the complaint against the actor.

The lawyer told the bench that the Justice Hema Committee report, which exposed the shocking harassment and sexual exploitation faced by women in the Malayalam film industry, has to be understood in the larger context.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Siddique, submitted that a complaint was lodged in 2024 after a lapse of eight years.

On September 24, the high court had rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Siddique in the rape case, saying that in view of the seriousness of the accusations he was facing, his custodial interrogation was inevitable for proper investigation of the crime.

Siddique, who was booked for offences under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), has claimed in his plea that the complainant female actor had subjected him to a "prolonged campaign of harassment and false accusations since 2019".

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