Sexual Harassment Charges: Senior Malayalam Actor Booked For Rape, Criminal Intimidation

Thiruvananthapuram: Senior actor Siddique was on Wednesday booked for rape and criminal intimidation based on the complaint of an actress to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing sexual assault allegations against prominent figures in Malayalam film industry.

The 61-year-old Siddique, who has featured in over 300 films, has been accused of raping an actress at a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram in January 2016 after calling her there on the pretext of discussing a ‘non-existent’ film project.

The FIR has been registered at a Thiruvananthapuram police station under non-bailable sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC). As the alleged assault took place in 2016, sections of IPC have been filed instead of the recently introduced Bharatiya Nyay Samhita (BNS).

Siddique recently resigned as general secretary of Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), following the allegations.

Dismissing the charges, Siddique filed a complaint with the state police chief, alleging an agenda behind the actress’ allegations.

Two days ago, an FIR was registered at Ernakulam North police station against filmmaker Ranjith for misbehaviour following a complaint by Bengali actress Sreelekha Mitra.

There has been a slew of ‘MeToo’ sexual assault allegations by female actors and technicians against some eminent men of the industry following the Hema committee report, which found systemic abuse of women in the industry.