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Kerala to move SC questioning bail to rape accused actor Vijay Babu
Malayalam actor Vijay Babu was arrested on Monday but was released immediately due to pre-arrest bail granted by the high court
The Kerala government has decided to approach the Supreme Court questioning the anticipatory bail granted to rape accused actor and producer Vijay Babu, a senior official said. The government has got a legal advice that it has solid reason to challenge the bail granted by the high court, the official added.
Though the actor was arrested on Monday, he was released immediately due to pre-arrest bail granted by the high court. He slipped out of the country after the police registered a case against him and came back only after the high court took up his bail plea. It will set a bad precedent, said the official adding police have every right to arrest him.
A single bench of justice Bechu Kurain Thomas granted bail to Babu on June 23 who was accused of raping a Malayalam actor promising her good roles.
The court heard the plea in detail for more than two weeks and also examined the WhatsApp and other chats between the actor and the survivor. While granting bail the court observed that after examining conversation between them it found that relation between them were cordial and the survivor was aware that Babu was already married and no element of violence or force were seen in chats. Babu insisted that physical relation between the two were consensual and she raised rape charges when she was denied prominent roles in his films.
He courted trouble after the young actor, a new comer who made her debut in his film, filed a complaint accusing him of sexually assaulting her several times by promising good roles and forcing her to take narcotics. Police booked him under sections 376 (sexual assault), 323 (causing hurt), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Another case was slapped later for revealing the identity of the complainant under Section 228A.
After the woman actor filed a police complaint on April 22, Babu slipped out of the country but he was forced to return after police issued a blue corner notice against him and cancelled his passport. Later he came on a live chat on social media taking the name of the survivor and claimed she was blackmailing him.
