Malayalam actor Siddique during an appearance at the magistrate court in connection with a sexual assault case in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.

The State Police on Friday arrested actor Siddique who is facing the charge of raping an aspiring actor in a hotel room in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016. 

Mr. Siddique, protected from judicial remand and custodial interrogation by a Supreme Court (SC) order, was later released on bail by a magistrate court.

Mr. Siddique appeared before the investigating officer, Aji Chandran Nair, DySP (Narcotic Cell), in the City Police Commissionerate as directed by the apex court. 

Mr. Nair and a team of officers questioned Mr. Siddique on camera for hours in the police command centre’s “interrogation room.” 

Later, in a remand report filed before the Judicial First Class Magistrate III, Mr. Nair accused Mr. Siddique of misleading investigators and not cooperating with the police as directed by the Supreme Court. 

‘Impound passport’

Mr. Nair requested that the magistrate impound Mr. Siddique’s passport and prevent him from travelling outside the State without the court’s consent. 

The investigating officer also requested that the court direct the suspect not to tamper with the evidence, attempt to influence or intimidate the victim or demoralise her through social media posts or other public statements. 

The prosecution case was that Mr. Siddique befriended the woman on social media by liking her profile. 

As per the court filings, Mr. Siddique allegedly invited the woman and her family to preview his Malayalam release, Sukhamayirikatte, in a theatre in Thiruvananthapuram on January 28, 2016. 

Mr. Nair said in the remand report that Mr. Siddique told the actor that he is planning a new movie with his son in the lead. He requested the woman to meet him in his room at the government-owned Mascot Hotel later in the day for preliminary discussions.  

The police told the magistrate that the actor allegedly raped the woman in the room and cautioned her against complaining. 

In the remand report, Mr. Nair said that Mr. Siddique told the actor that, given the former’s high social standing and public profile, no one would believe her statement. 

Earlier, the police brought Mr. Siddique in a police van to the Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital, where doctors subjected him to a sexual potency test.

The magistrate released Mr. Siddique on bail in deference to the Supreme Court order with the rider that he adhere to the bail conditions set by the court. 

The case against Mr. Siddique, a veteran actor with hundreds of movies to his credit, has its provenance in the women’s rights movement that took the Malayalam movie industry by storm following the publication of the K. Hema Committee report that documented harrowing instances of sexual assault and gender discrimination in the expansive and multi-crore entertainment industry.