Vijay Babu arrested in sexual assault case; police to question Malayalam actor till July 3

Actor and producer Vijay Babu, who has been accused of sexual assault by an actor in Kochi, was arrested on Monday, when he appeared before Ernakulam police in connection with the case. On June 22, he was granted anticipatory bail by the Kerala High Court. As per reports, he was granted station bail but will have to cooperate with the team investigating the case. Read more: Nana Patekar lands first film role since MeToo scandal

Reports say that the team that has been set up to probe Babu in the investigation have been granted permission to question him starting Monday till July 3 from 9am to 6pm. The actor had been accused of sexual assault by a female actor earlier this year.

In her complaint, the victim alleged that she was assaulted by the actor in a flat in Kochi multiple times. The complainant said that Vijay sexually assaulted her on the pretext of offering roles in movies. The Ernakulam South Police registered a case against Vijay on the woman’s complaint, which was received on April 22. Vijay reportedly fled to Dubai just around the same time when the case was registered in his name and returned earlier this month

Vijay was also accused of disclosing the name of the survivor, when he went live on his Facebook account and revealed the identity of the actor. Vijay is currently out on bail. As per a report by Onmanorama, he said he was the real victim and would file a defamation case. He also said that he was willing to face the consequences after revealing the name of the complainant. The report further added that Vijay said that he will not let the complainant get away easily.

Following the allegations, Vijay was asked to step down from the executive committee of AMMA – The Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes. AMMA spokesman Edavela Babu at a recent press conference said they will take action against Vijay Babu in accordance with the court order.

It was reported earlier in June that Vijay has been told to appear before the investigators when asked. He has also reportedly been asked not to contact the complainant by any means, or make any claims linked to her or the family. He will also have to seek permission for leaving the state.