Rape case filed against Malayalam actor Siddique

The Kerala police have registered a rape case against senior Malayalam actor Siddique days after a young actor filed a complaint against the actor alleging that he sexually assaulted her in 2016.

An FIR under IPC sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) has been registered against the actor at Museum police station, a senior police officer said.

The actress, who had initially said that she would not be filing a case against the actor, fearing it could affect her future, sent a mail to the State Police Chief on Aug 27 alleging that Siddique had raped her in a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016.

The case will now be handled by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing allegations of sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry.

As several allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation have come up, the state government on Aug 25 announced the constitution of a seven-member special investigation team to probe them.

The FIR against Siddiqui is the second such case where a high-profile film personality has been accused of sexual harassment

Earlier, a case was filed under IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty) against director Ranjith following a complaint by a female actor from West Bengal regarding an incident which occurred in 2009.

The Bengali actor alleged that the director had touched her inappropriately with sexual intent after inviting her to act in the movie Paleri Manikyam in 2009.

Ranjith resigned from his post as chairman of Kerala Chalachitra Academy after the allegations surfaced.
meanwhile, on Aug 25, Siddique stepped down as AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artists) general secretary following allegations of sexual harassment by the actress.

Siddique is a famous actor in the south who has appeared in over 300 Malayalam movies. He has also done Tamil films such as Jana and Bhaskar Oru Rascal.

In the wake of the recently released Justice Hema Committee report, there's a wave of several actresses coming forward to lodge complaints against actors and filmmakers.

Earlier, Siddiqui had filed a complaint with the police chief claiming that there was an agenda to tarnish his image.