Malayalam actor Sidhique arrested in rape case, released on bail
Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 6: Weeks after the Supreme Court granted protection from arrest to veteran Malayalam actor Sidhique in a rape case, he appeared before the investigating agency on Friday when he was formally arrested and then released on bail.
The actor was formally arrested, his medical examination was carried out and then he was released on bail after he was produced before a court here.
He was granted protection from arrest by the apex court on November 19.
Sidhique had moved the top court after the Kerala High Court on September 24 denied him the relief on the ground that in view of the seriousness of the accusations, his custodial interrogation was inevitable for a proper investigation of the crime.
Sidhique, who was booked for offences under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), has claimed in his plea that the complainant has subjected him to a "prolonged campaign of harassment and false accusations" since 2019.
He had resigned from his post as general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) following the rape allegations against him by a female actor.
Multiple FIRs were registered against many high-profile personalities in the Malayalam film industry following allegations of sexual harassment against various directors and actors in the wake of the revelations made in the Justice (retired) Hema Committee report.
The committee was formed by the Kerala government after a 2017 actress assault case and it revealed instances 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 announced the establishment of a seven-member Special Investigation Team to probe the charges on August 25.
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2 Indian nationals part of crew of luxury cruise ship that reported hantavirus outbreak
London (PTI): At least two Indian nationals are part of the crew of the Dutch vessel MV Hondius which reported a hantavirus outbreak with five confirmed cases and three deaths so far, according to the BBC.
The luxury cruise ship, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, began its journey on April 1 from Argentina’s Ushuaia and is expected to arrive in Spain’s Canary Islands on May 10.
About 150 passengers and crew from 28 countries were initially aboard the luxury cruise, but dozens disembarked on the island of St Helena on April 24, according to the report.
Of the 28 nationalities onboard, 38 are from the Philippines, 31 from the UK, 23 from the US, 16 from the Netherlands, 14 from Spain, nine from Germany, six from Canada, and two crew members from India, among others, the BBC reported.
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The World Health Organization said on Thursday that five of the eight suspected hantavirus cases had been confirmed.
A 69-year-old Dutch woman, confirmed to have the virus, has died; her Dutch husband and a German woman were also among the fatalities. Their cases are being investigated.
The UN health agency has said the outbreak is not the start of a pandemic.
Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at WHO, told a news briefing that the situation is not the same as six years ago with Covid-19 because hantavirus spreads through “close, intimate contact”.
Van Kerkhove said “this is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently”. She said authorities had asked “everyone to wear a mask” on board the MV Hondius.
Those in contact with or caring for suspected cases, she added, should “wear a higher level of personal protective equipment”.
Hantavirus typically spreads from rodents - but in the latest outbreak the transmission between people was documented for the first time, the WHO said.
Meanwhile, health authorities are racing to trace dozens of people who have recently disembarked from the Dutch vessel MV Hondius.
Oceanwide Expedition said 29 passengers, of at least 12 different nationalities, had left the MV Hondius in St Helena, the British Overseas Territory.
It also said the body of one deceased person—now known to be a Dutch man - was taken off the vessel.
Seven of those who left the cruise liner were British nationals.
