Kochi: Malayalam actor Nivin Pauly, booked in a sexual abuse case, has filed a counter-petition with the police alleging a conspiracy against him. The Premam actor filed the complaint with the state police chief and the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the series of complaints about alleged sexual abuse in the Malayalam film industry.
The petition was filed before Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Minister for Culture and Films Saji Cherian too.
In his complaint, Nivin said he was working on a film set in Kerala on the day of the alleged crime. He has included the details in the complaint. He said he had not made any foreign trip during the days mentioned in the complaint against him. He has included a copy of his passport in the complaint as proof of his claims.
He requested the police to complete the investigation into the allegations against him and prove his innocence. He said he would fully cooperate with the probe.
Nivin was booked on September 3 for the offence of rape on a complaint by a 40-year-old woman that he sexually assaulted her over a year ago in Dubai.
The FIR was fired at the Oonnukal police station under section 376 of the IPC. There are six accused, including a woman, in the case. The first accused is a woman named Shreya and Nivin is the sixth accused.
Hours after the FIR was registered, Paul said in a Facebook post that the allegations were "entirely untrue".
"I'm determined to go to any extent to prove these allegations are baseless and will take all necessary steps to bring those responsible to light. Thank you for your concern. The rest will be handled legally," he said.
Subsequently, he held a press conference where he reiterated that the allegations against him were false and added -- "this is a deliberate allegation and I believe there is a conspiracy behind it".
He further said that he did not know the complainant and had never seen or spoken to her.