Actor-legislator Mukesh and Edavela Babu, former general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists, who were arraigned as accused in rape cases, were given pre-arrest bail on Thursday.
The petition of V.S. Chandrasekharan, former president of the Lawyers Congress, was posted for Saturday as the prosecution informed the court that it had some materials that could influence the adjudication of the case by the court. Mr. Chandrasekharan has been accused of rape and outraging the modesty of a woman.
Honey M. Varghese, District and Sessions Judge, Ernakulam, issued the order on Thursday.
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The court found that the junior woman actor who raised the complaint of rape against the actors was a law graduate and a married woman. She was a person with the capacity to understand the nature and consequences of sexual indulgence. Still, she accompanied Mr. Mukesh and had sexual intercourse with him at his Maradu apartment. The First Information (FI) statement given by her showed that the actor came in front of her flat, she accompanied him in the car and went to his villa and had intercourse with him. No element of forcible intercourse was mentioned in her FI statement, the court found.
The FI statement in the case of Edavela Babu, which was also considered along with the case of Mukesh, revealed that she had contacted Mr. Babu during 2010 to secure membership in the Association as directed by Mr. Mukesh. She further stated that Mr. Babu replied that he knew about her dealings with Mr. Mukesh and asked her to consider him also. Had the woman been subjected to rape, she would not have contacted another person as directed by Mr. Mukesh, the court noted.
The woman actor had alleged that she was subjected to rape in the year 2010 and she was afraid to disclose the matter as Mr. Mukesh was an influential person. However, the records in the case showed that she had posted the photos along with him and besides sending him greetings even during 2020 and 2023, the court observed.
Though the victim was a person who knew very well how to give a statement to police, there was no mention of the alleged forceful sexual intercourse in the FI statement and no explanation was offered by her for not mentioning the alleged forceful sexual intercourse in the further statement recorded on August 30, 2024, the court noted.
The victim is a law graduate and therefore cannot be treated as a person ignorant of the provisions of the law. She had earlier approached the Kerala Bar Council seeking to take action against a lawyer, who had represented her in her matrimonial case, the court found.
Mr. Mukesh is a member of the Legislative Assembly and there is no chance of him fleeing from the clutches of law. The alleged incident of rape happened in 2010. Hence, there is no question of the collection of immediate evidence and the need to keep Mr. Mukesh behind bars, noted the court while allowing the pre-arrest bail.
Published - September 05, 2024 08:52 pm IST
