Kerala police file rape case against actor and ex-AMMA general secretary Siddique

The woman, once an aspirant in the Malayalam industry, had come forward after the release of the Hema Committee report, which has exposed rampant sexual abuse and flagrant gender injustice in the film industry. Since the report came to light, several actors have come forward to raise allegations against their industry colleagues.

The state police on Wednesday said the FIR was registered under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) at Thiruvananthapuram city police limits. According to the complaint, the alleged crime happened in 2016 at a hotel in the city.

The probe will be taken up by the special investigation team formed to look into all complaints that are being raised in the aftermath of the Hema committee report.

After the woman raised the complaint, Siddique had approached the police, saying that there is a criminal conspiracy to fabricate and spread false allegations against him.

In his complaint to the state police chief, Siddique had claimed, “The reputation of the entire Malayalam film industry is being deliberately tarnished by a group of persons and it is essential that the persons behind this criminal conspiracy are brought to light. I request you to take effective action in this matter to bring out the truth and the perpetrators behind the criminal conspiracy of fabricating and publishing false and scandalous allegations.”

On Monday, police had also registered a case against director Ranjith, based on a complaint by a Bengali actor that he had misbehaved with her during the pre-production discussion of a 2009 film.