CPI(M) MP Mukesh and actor Edavela Babu granted interim bail in rape and sexual assault cases

Cochin: A court here on Thursday granted interim bail to rape accused actor and CPI(M) MP M Mukesh and small-time actor Edavela Babu, who is accused of sexual assault.

“The application is allowed,” said Honey M. Varghese, district and judicial magistrate at Ernakulam, in the order allowing the interim bail applications of Mukesh and Babu.

The rape allegation against Mukesh was made by an actress who also made allegations of sexual assault against actors Babu and Jayasurya and others.

Following the woman's allegation, an FIR was filed against Mukesh under Section 376 (rape) of the IPC. He claimed that the charges against him were because he did not give in to the complainant's attempts to extort money.

Numerous FIRs (Facebook messages) have been filed against many well-known personalities in the Malayalam film fraternity following allegations of sexual harassment against various directors and actors in the wake of the revelations in the Justice K Hema Committee report.

The committee was set up by the Government of Kerala following the 2017 assault case of an actress and its report uncovered cases of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry.

After allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation were made against several actors and directors, the state government announced on August 25 that it would set up a seven-member special investigation team to investigate these allegations.

(This story was published as part of the auto-generated Syndicate Wire feed. Aside from the headline, no changes were made to the text written by ABP Live.)