Rape case: Kerala High Court dismisses anticipatory bail plea of actor Siddique

Kerala High Court dismisses anticipatory bail plea of actor Siddique in sexual assault case, citing vague and contradictory allegations.

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (September 24, 2024) dismissed an anticipatory bail petition filed by Malayalam actor Siddique seeking bail in a case relating to sexual assault of a woman actor.

The actor has been charged with offences under under Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on a complaint of the woman actor.

He contended in his petition that the complaint was part of a deliberate and calculated effort to implicate him falsely in the case and that the allegations are vague.

He further argued that the complainant could not state even the most basic detail regarding the date of the alleged incident. He claimed that the woman had been harassing him and making false accusations against him since 2019. She had repeatedly made unsubstantiated and false claims of “attempted sexual misconduct” by the petitioner at a theatre in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016 where a preview of a film was held.

Now, she had come out with a “contradictory allegation” of a more serious crime of rape at a different location – a room at a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram in same year. As she now realised that the theatre was inherently unsuitable for non-verbal sexual acts, she now alleged that the incident occurred in a hotel room, the actor alleged.