A sessions court in Kerala’s Ernakulam on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to Malayalam actor and Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA M Mukesh in a rape case, The Indian Express reported on Saturday.
Mukesh has been booked on the complaint of an actor who alleged that he raped her in 2010 at his Kochi flat after promising her a membership in the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists.
On August 26, the actor had levelled allegations of sexual misconduct, and physical and verbal assault against several colleagues and technicians in the Malayalam film industry, including Mukesh and former general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists Edavela Babu.
Subsequently, a case was filed against the Mukesh, who is the MLA from Kollam, and Babu, among others. On Thursday, Judge Honey M Varghese also granted anticipatory bail to Babu.
While granting bail to Mukesh, Varghese noted that the complainant had not alleged “forced sexual intercourse” in her first statement against the actor-turned-politician, The Indian Express reported.
“There is a clear distinction between rape and consensual sex,” the judge remarked, noting that the allegation was made only after the first hearing of Mukesh’s bail petition.
Varghese also pointed out that the complainant had also sought money from Mukesh to pay her child’s school fees, in addition to a separate sum of Rs 1 lakh.
“There would not have been a demand for money if it had been an incident of rape,” the judge said.
The court also observed that Mukesh had allegedly picked up the complainant from her house and taken her to his flat. The two of them allegedly had sexual intercourse after which she was dropped back home.
The medical statement given by the complainant to a doctor on the day of the alleged rape lacked the element of coercion, Varghese said.
“She is a married woman and a law graduate with capacity to understand the nature and consequences of sexual intercourse,” the judge added. “The only contention of the woman was that her consent was obtained on the strength of a promise of membership in the Association [of Malayalam Movie Artists],” Varghese added.
The charges against Mukesh came amid a “Me Too” moment in the Malayalam film industry, spurred by the release of the Justice Hema committee report. Several women have spoken out in recent weeks about sexual misconduct by their male colleagues.
In a separate case, actor Jayasurya was also booked for allegedly sexually harassing a female artist in the state secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram on the sets of the film De Ingottu Nokkiye in 2008.
Jayasurya has been booked under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to outraging the modesty of women, sexual harassment and using words, gestures or acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman.
Senior actor Siddique has also been booked for allegedly raping a young actor. The actor accused Siddique of raping her at a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016.
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