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In August this year, a rape case was filed against Malayalam actor Siddique following a female actor’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her in 2016.
Previously, SC granted an anticipatory bail to Siddique. (Photo: PTI)
Malayalam actor Siddique has been arrested in connection to the sexual assault case. He was arrested on Friday, December 6 and will be produced in the court soon. However, since Siddique was already granted an anticipatory bail by the Supremer Court, he is likely to be released soon.
In August this year, a rape case was filed against Siddique following a female actor’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her in 2016. An FIR was filed against him under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation). Following the allegations, Siddique also resigned from his post as general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).
Allegations against Siddique came at a time when several people from the Malayalam film industry came forward to share their stories of sexual assault or abuse and left the entire nation shocked. Among others, FIRs were also filed against director Ranjit for allegedly assaulting a Bengali actress.
However, Siddique wrote a letter to Kerala police later and denied sexual assault charges. “I have seen the actor only on the day of preview screening of the film ‘Sukhamayirikatte’. That was in January or February of 2016. On that day, she had met me and talked to me in the presence of her parents. No incident of rape as alleged by her for the first now after over 8-and-half years, has occurred. No incident of ‘sexual misbehavior’ or ‘verbal sexual offering’ as alleged by her five years ago has also occurred,” he wrote.
In September, the Supreme Court granted interim protection from arrest for two weeks to Siddique. A bench headed by Justice Bela Trivedi heard the case against Siddique on September 30 and asked the victim why it took her eight years to come out to file her complaint.
Later in November, the apex court granted relief to the actor but asked him to deposit his passport with the trial court. The Supreme Court noted that the complainant hadn’t gone to the police for 8 years and had not reported the alleged assault to the Hema Committee either. Therefore, granting anticipatory bail to Siddique, SC asked the actor to cooperate with the investigation.
