Kerala HC dismisses actor Sidhique's anticipatory bail plea in rape case
Kochi (PTI): The Kerala High Court on Tuesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Malayalam film actor Sidhique in a rape case registered against him based on a complaint by an actress.
"Application is dismissed," Justice C S Dias said.
The detailed order giving reasons for rejecting the actor's plea is not yet available.
Sidhique, who was booked for offences under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation), has claimed in his plea that the complainant female actor, has subjected him to the "prolonged campaign of harassment and false accusations since 2019".
In his anticipatory bail plea, he further claimed that she had repeatedly, for the past five years, made unsubstantiated and false claims of sexual misbehaviour and 'verbal sexual offers' by him in a theatre in 2016.
"But now she has raised totally contradictory allegation of more serious crime of rape at a different place in the same year," he had said in his plea.
Sidhique had resigned from his post as general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) following the allegations against him.
Multiple FIRs have been registered against many high-profile Malayalam film personalities following allegations of sexual harassment against various directors and actors in the wake of revelations in the Justice K Hema Committee report.
The committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case and its report revealing instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry.
Following the allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation cropping up against several actors and directors, the state government on August 25 announced the establishment of a seven-member special investigation team to probe them.
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Around 100gms of gold stolen from Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, May 10 (PTI): Around 100 grams of gold has been allegedly stolen from the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple here, police said on Saturday.
Police said that around 12 pavan (approximately 96 grams) of gold kept at the temple for gold plating work is missing and CCTV footage was being examined to find out who took it.
An officer of Fort police station, where the complaint was filed, stated that gold plating work was last performed two days ago, after which the remaining gold was secured in a locker.
When the gold was taken out again for work, around 12 pavans were found to be missing, following which temple authorities filed a complaint, he said. The officer said an investigation into the incident is going on.
