Vijay Babu rape case: Actor-producer's arrest recorded, released on bail

The arrest of Malayalam actor-producer Vijay Babu, who was accused in a rape case, was recorded by local police on Monday. He was soon released on station bail.

According to the bail conditions, Vijay Babu was asked to appear before the police probe team on Monday. The police have been granted time to interrogate him for seven days between June 27 and July 3 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The court has also asked him not to leave the state under any circumstances. The police will use this time to take him to various places as part of the evidence collection process. The interrogation began after the arrest was recorded.

A female actor filed a complaint alleging that Vijay Babu had physically abused and sexually exploited her between March 13 and April 14. Soon after news broke about the sexual assault allegation, the accused went live on Facebook and revealed the survivor’s identity by openly naming her. He also absconded to Dubai and later returned to India when his passport was impounded.

On May 30, the Kerala High Court granted the accused interim pre-arrest bail. Meanwhile, on Sunday, Vijay Babu attended the general body meeting of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA). Vijay Babu was elected as an executive committee member of AMMA for the 2021-2024 term.

However, in the wake of the allegation against him, instead of suspending Vijay Babu, AMMA said that the actor had written to them stating that he wanted to stay away from the executive committee in view of the allegations levelled against him. Following this, AMMA landed in the controversy for not taking stern disciplinary action against the accused.