Hema Commission Report: Actor Siddique seeks interim bail in sexual abuse case after Mukesh and Prakash…

Actor Siddique appeared before the Kerala High Court on Monday seeking anticipatory bail, which coincides with the ongoing ‘Me Too’ controversy that has rocked the Malayalam cinema world.

Report of the Hema Commission: Female lead actors are facing a flurry of allegations and seeking anticipatory bail following the release of the shocking Justice Hema Committee report. The report exposed the sexual exploitation of female artistes in the Malayalam cinema industry. AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes) former general secretary Siddique on Monday filed a motion in the Kerala High Court seeking anticipatory bail in connection with a rape complaint filed against him by a female star. She accused Siddique of raping her at a state-run hotel in the state capital, leading to the registration of a case against him.

In his petition, Siddique alleged that the complainant had been harassing him since 2019 by alleging on social media that they had attempted to engage in sexual misconduct at a theatre in 2016. “It is clear that the de facto complainant has been informed that a mere allegation of attempted sexual assault is a bailable offence and therefore the applicant could not be remanded in custody and in order to frame a case that warrants the arrest and detention of the applicant, the de facto complainant has now come up with an allegation of rape,” his petition said.

Siddique resigned from his AMMA post after she made her revelation, and a few days later, the entire 17-member AMMA board, headed by superstar Mohanlal as president, also resigned, leaving the organisation – which comprises around 500 actors – headless. Director VK Paash and actor-turned-CPI-M legislator Mukesh filed for bail last week, and the former was granted interim release from custody till Tuesday.

Impact report of the Hema committee

The Hema Committee report exposed the ‘male hegemony’ in the Malayalam film industry, and since then nine prominent figures in the industry have been named in formal complaints. These include directors Ranjith and Prakash, producers Vichu and Noble, and actors Mukesh, Siddique, Jayasurya, Edavela Babu and Maniyan Pillai Raju.

The Malayalam film industry appears to have suffered a severe blow with the resignation of AMMA executives and open dissension within the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA), an alliance of 21 organisations that includes prominent directors and film professionals.

With Mukesh’s case set to resume on Tuesday, all eyes are on the outcome of these bail applications, even as the four women IPS officers who form the seven-member police investigation team continue to question victims. However, none of the accused have received summons to appear before the investigation team so far.