Kerala Court Denies Bail To Tattoo Artist Sujeesh In Two Rape Cases

A Sessions Court in Kerala has dismissed a couple of bail applications preferred by tattoo artist Sujeesh PS who was accused of rape by two women. Sujeesh, who runs two tattoo studios in the State, had recently made the front page for reportedly sexually abusing multiple women while tattooing them.

Additional Sessions Judge Shibu Thomas noted that the investigation was still in the preliminary stage in the said two cases where while denying bail to him.  Further, it was found that although there was a delay in the complaints, the petitioner was involved in several similar cases, one of them in which a foreign woman was the informant.

"Though there is a delay of 8 months in filing the complaint, I am not inclined to grant bail to the petitioner at this stage considering the nature of offence and strong similar antecedents of petitioner and stage of investigation. Granting of bail to the petitioner at this stage may affect smooth progress of the investigation and possibility of the petitioner influencing the witnesses and interfering with the investigation cannot be ruled out."

In the application, he had pleaded innocence and argued that he has been falsely implicated in the case. However, the Court dismissed both bail applications on the aforementioned grounds. 

"Considering the nature and gravity of the offence alleged and the stage of the investigation, I am of the view that the petitioner cannot be released on bail at this stage. This application deserves to be dismissed."

Nevertheless, it may be noted that a Judicial First Class Magistrate had allowed the petitioner's bail application in four other cases where he was accused of sexual assault. 

It all started with an anonymous post on Reddit where a woman opened up about her experience of abuse at the hands of Sujeesh while getting a tattoo done. This had triggered an unbelievable number of testimonies accusing the petitioner of sexual abuse and assault. 

After the allegations of sexual abuse started taking over the internet earlier this month, Sujesh had gone into hiding. Six women subsequently approached the Police with a complaint against the tattoo artist.

Two FIRs were later filed against him and he was arrested by the Kochi city police team on March 6. His tattoo studio 'Inkfected' is quite popular in the State and he has a number of prominent celebrities in his clientele. 

While most of the complaints would attract the offence under Section 354 (assaulting a woman with the intention of outraging her modesty) of the IPC, two of the FIRs were registered for offences under Section 376 (rape) of the IPC.

This case also resurrected the #MeToo movement in the State where a shockingly high number of women came out with their experiences of sexual abuse at make up salons, beauty parlours and even psychologists. 

The petitioner was represented by Advocates Geo Paul and C.R. Pramod while Public Prosecutor T.P. Ramesh appeared for the State. 

Advocate Raghul Sudheesh and his associates have also been proactively helping the survivors involved in the case in every step of the legal process. 

Case Title: Sujeesh v. State of Kerala

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