POCSO case: Female actor moves HC seeking anticipatory bail

Kochi: The woman who filed a sexual assault complaint against seven including actors Mukesh, Jayasurya, Edavela Babu and Maniyanpilla Raju has approached the Kerala High Court seeking anticipatory bail in a POCSO case. In her petition, she appealed to the court to restrict the probe team from arresting her until settling the bail plea. Claiming innocence, she argued that she would cooperate with the probe.

Police slapped charges including offences under the POCSO act against the actor based on a complaint filed by her relative from Muvattupuzha. As per the FIR, the accused made the complainant a sex slave and presented her to a group in Chennai before reaching puberty. She added that the artist is the part of a sex mafia. The woman had filed an official complaint with the state police chief and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday.

"When my relative came forward with accusations against many people, I felt duty-bound to inform the public that this was not the case. It was in 2014. I was 16 at the time. I was taken to Chennai under the pretence of a film audition during my class 10 vacation. In Chennai, I was taken to a place with five or six men for an audition. On reaching the place, they began to touch me inappropriately. I caused a commotion by shouting and crying. This ultimately helped me escape from their clutches.

Meanwhile, the female actor, who confirmed that the woman is the daughter of her mother's sister, claimed that the accusations against her were part of a political plot to prevent more people from coming forward to testify. She also admitted to the media that she had taken the woman to Chennai in 2014. She added that her mother's sister and her daughter expressed interest in acting and that she merely explained the ways of cinema to her.

The actor said that she had no idea about the cases registered against her in various police stations. She argued that though she had filed an RTI plea seeking details of the case in all district police headquarters, no response was received yet.