SC grants anticipatory bail to actor Siddique in rape case, flags 8-year delay in filing FIR: Posted on Facebook, but..
Supreme Court grants anticipatory bail to actor Siddique in a case of alleged sexual assault registered against him in a 2016 incident by an actress.
The complaint was a fallout of the justice Hema Commission report which detailed out the sexual harassment and discrimination faced by women actors in Malayalam cinema.
The court noted the 8-year delay in filing the FIR as a ground to grant bail
“We deem it appropriate not to assign elaborate reasons, particularly considering the sensitivity of the case. However, considering the fact that the complainant had filed the complaint almost eight years after the alleged incident which had taken place in 2016 and the complainant had also posted the posts on Facebook somewhere in 2018 making allegations about 14 people including the appellant with regard to the alleged sexual abuse and also the fact that she had not gone to the Hema Committee, which was set up by the Government of Kerala, we are inclined to accept the present appeal,” the bench observed in the order.
The relief is granted subject to the condition that Siddique should deposit the passport before the trial court and shall cooperate with the investigation. The trial court is at liberty to set other conditions for the anticipatory bail.
“You had the courage to post the complaint on Facebook but not to go to the police?” Justice Trivedi asked.
