Kerala HC rejects bail plea of actor Sidhique in rape case

Kochi Islands: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Malayalam film actor Sidhique in a rape case filed against him based on a complaint filed by an actress.

“The request is denied,” said Judge CS Dias.

The detailed decision setting out the reasons for rejecting the actor’s request is not yet available.

Sidhique, who was arrested for offences under Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation), alleged in his petition that the accusing actress has subjected him to a “sustained campaign of harassment and false accusations” since 2019.

In his application for pretrial bail, he further alleged that over the past five years she had repeatedly made unsubstantiated and false allegations of sexual misconduct and “verbal sexual offers” from him at a theatre in 2016.

“But now she has made a completely contradictory allegation about a more serious rape offence at another location in the same year,” he had said in his petition.

Sidhique had resigned as General Secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) following the allegations against him.

Several FIRs have been registered against many well-known Malayalam film personalities, following allegations of sexual harassment against several directors and actors, in the wake of revelations in the Justice K Hema Committee report.

The commission was set up by the Kerala government following the 2017 sexual assault case of an actress and the report that exposed cases of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry.

After allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation were made against several actors and directors, the state government on August 25 announced the formation of a seven-member special investigation team to probe the allegations.