Bailable Offence: Kerala High Court Closes Vijay Babu's Anticipatory Bail Plea In Case For Revealing Identity Of Actress Who Accused Him Of Rape
The Kerala High Court has closed the proceedings in anticipatory bail plea moved by actor-producer Vijay Babu in the case for allegedly revealing on social media, the identity of the actress who has accused him of sexually exploiting her.Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas closed the matter upon noting that the actor was booked under bailable offences in that case.As per the de facto complainant,...
The Kerala High Court has closed the proceedings in anticipatory bail plea moved by actor-producer Vijay Babu in the case for allegedly revealing on social media, the identity of the actress who has accused him of sexually exploiting her.
Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas closed the matter upon noting that the actor was booked under bailable offences in that case.
As per the de facto complainant, the actor 'gained her trust by being friendly and advising her' when she was a newcomer in the industry. She added that he sexually exploited her under the guise of being a 'saviour' to her when it came to personal and professional issues. A complaint was thereby registered against him with the Ernakulam police.
Meanwhile, the actor hosted a Facebook Live and denied all allegations raised against him. However, during this live streaming, he revealed the survivor's name which led to further backlash. A separate case has been registered under IPC Section 228A (disclosure of the identity of the victim in certain offences) against the actor for revealing her identity on a public platform. It is in this case that the actor had sought pre-arrest bail.
Vijay Babu had moved another bail application moved through Advocate S. Rajeev seeking anticipatory bail in the rape case and the proceedings for the same are still ongoing. In this application, he submitted that the de facto complainant is merely trying to blackmail him by filing this false case. He added that while the survivor may be free to raise allegations against anyone, the statutory authorities are duty-bound to ascertain the truthfulness of the allegation before tarnishing or defaming an individual based on a complaint which could not be substantiated.
The actor submitted that he has strong apprehension of arrest since the police officers are allegedly guided by the media reports. He alleges that the officers want to arrest him due to pressure from the media and to create news for the media.
Case Title: Vijay Babu v. State of Kerala & Anr.
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Ker) 279