Kerala Police issues a lookout notice against rape-accused actor Sidhique

Thiruvananthapuram: With the whereabouts unknown of Malayalam actor Sidhique, who was denied interim bail by the Kerala High Court in a rape case, police have intensified the search for him by issuing a lookout notice in newspapers seeking information about him.

The lookout in the newspapers said that 65-year-old Sidhique is accused in a case of rape and criminal intimidation and that anyone with information about him should contact the Thiruvananthapuram city police commissioner or the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Thiruvananthapuram . Range.

Besides them, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Narcotics Cell, Thiruvananthapuram or the museum police station can also be contacted, the notice said.

The post, which features a photo of the actor, also includes his physical description: 6 feet tall and well built.

Sidhique has moved the Supreme Court for interim bail in the rape case after the Kerala High Court denied him relief on Tuesday (September 24).

The Supreme Court had said that considering the seriousness of the charges he was facing, his interrogation in custody was inevitable for proper investigation into the crime.

It had further said that since Sidhique’s defense was “a total denial of the incident”, his potency test was yet to be conducted and there was a “reasonable apprehension” that he might intimidate witnesses and tamper with evidence, “it it was not appropriate to exercise the discretionary powers of the court” to grant him relief.

Sidhique, who was charged with offenses under Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation), had alleged in his plea that the complaining female actor had subjected him to a “prolonged campaign of harassment and false allegations since 2019”.

In his prescient bail plea, he further alleged that over the past five years, she had repeatedly made unsubstantiated and false claims of sexual misconduct and ‘verbal sexual offers’ from him at a theater in 2016.

Sidhique had resigned as general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) following the allegations against him by the female actor.

Multiple FIRs have been registered against many high-profile 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 committee was set up by the Kerala government following the 2017 sexual assault on actresses and the report that highlighted cases of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry.

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