Malayalam producer-actor Vijay Babu charged for allegedly sexually assaulting a female actor
Well-known Malayalam producer-actor Vijay Babu has been charged for allegedly sexually assaulting a female actor and disclosing the survivor's identity through a Facebook live session.
Vijay Babu, who is reportedly untraceable since the police charged him with rape following the woman's complaint, appeared in a Facebook live session and claimed innocence, saying he is the "real victim".
As the producer, who is also the founder of the production company Friday Film House, disclosed the survivor's name and identity, which is an offence, another case was also filed on him.
"A rape case was registered against him first. As he disclosed the survivor's identity, another case was also filed. It seems that he is out of station and absconding now," a senior police officer told news agency PTI.
The woman, who appeared in movies produced by Vijay Babu's production house, filed a complaint with the police on April 22 and detailed through a Facebook post the physical assault and sexual exploitation she had allegedly suffered at the hands of the producer-actor for the past one-and-a-half months.
"He behaved like my saviour for my personal and professional problems but under the guise sexually exploited me," the actor alleged in her Facebook post.
She further alleged that his modus operandi was trapping her with the role of a "saviour cum friend cum lover" and thereafter intoxicating and sexually abusing her several times in the past one-and-a-half months.
Besides rape and physical assault, he also allegedly forced her to consume alcohol and a 'happy pill', a drug.
She expressed fear over discussing the assault and exploitation to others because of his clout in the film industry.
"I got to know that there are several other women who have been subjected to this trap by Vijay Babu. He has recorded a nude video of mine and threatened me with its consequences and also threatened my life," the woman alleged.
However, Vijay Babu, in a Facebook live on Tuesday, denied the charges but admitted that he knew the female actor for the past five years.
Besides denying the charges, the producer also said he would file a defamation suit against the complainant for tarnishing his image.
He mentioned the name of the survivor several times during the Facebook live session, saying that he was doing it deliberately as she was not the "victim" and he was the "real victim" in the case.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)