Actor-producer Vijay Babu has claimed that the relationship between him and the survivor actor, who levelled allegations of sexual assault against him, was consensual.
In his interlocutory application in the criminal petition seeking bail, filed at the Kerala High Court, he claimed that the problem between him and the survivor began after he decided to cast another actor in his upcoming film.
He also said that he had all the proof necessary and submitted it to the court as additional documents and evidence. He asserted that the survivor was “fully aware” that he was married and “is aged 25 years and is capable of understanding things”.
According to the petition he submitted on 22 April, Vijay Babu claimed that the problem between him and the survivor began after he decided to cast Niranjana Anoop in his next film.
Further, his petition also stated that he had given her money as loan on more than one occasion, as mentioned in her complaint. He said that he could prove it through bank statements.
Saying that he did not know the details of the First Information Report (FIR) while filing the bail petition, he said that he had “insisted on asking one of her close friends to be in the room” with them, and added the reasons would be proved through the documents attached with the petition.
He also said that the actor auditioned for a film “which was recently released in Amazon Prime" (not mentioning the name of the film not to disclose the identity of the alleged survivor).
Vijay Babu is accused of two things: allegedly sexually assaulting a female actor repeatedly and disclosing the survivor woman’s identity through a Facebook live session, which was in clear violation of the law.
Vijay Babu’s version is that, on 14 March 2022, the survivor actor had received a call on his phone and asked the caller “not to make calls in this number”.
He later came to know about the incident through a family friend, Niranjana Anoop and had confronted the survivor, which had “provoked” her.
Following this incident, he alleged that the survivor had sent him texts threatening him and was “aggrieved when she came to know that Niranjana Anoop is proposed to be cast” in his next film.
According to him, on 18 March, the survivor had shouted at Niranjana and her mother, when they were on a meeting with Vijay Babu in a coffee shop. “She sent a lot of abusive messages to Niranjana and her mother,” he contended.
Babu has been absconding since the police filed a case against him with changes of rape following the woman's complaint. He then appeared in a Facebook live session, where he claimed innocence, saying he was the real victim.
In the same session, he also revealed the name of the survivor. He has now agreed to appear before the authorities and the investigating officer on any date fixed by the Court.
On 24 May, he submitted his air tickets before the Kerala High Court indicating his return to India on 30 May.
The tickets were submitted in court. A day after it said that his plea for anticipatory bail would be considered only after he produced travel documents indicating his return to the country.
The actor survivor lodged a complaint with the police on 22 April alleging physical assault and sexual exploitation she had faced from the producer-actor.
(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
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