Siddique, Bhama turn hostile in actress abduction case; Revathy condemns move

Siddique and Bhama, two of the prosecution witnesses in the Malayalam actress abduction case of 2017, have changed their statements, following which the prosecution urged the court to declare them hostile.

The two had earlier stated that during a rehearsal for an old stage show organised by Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), there was an altercation between Dileep and the actress who was attacked. A few months back, actors Edavela Babu and Bindu Panicker had similarly changed their statements and were declared hostile as well.

The move was strongly condemned by actors Revathy and Rima Kallingal. While the latter called it shameful, Revathy came out with a statement in which she expressed her disappointment over the actors' decisions, especially Bhama's. "It’s sad that we can’t trust our own colleagues in the film industry. So many years of work, so many projects, but when there is an issue for a ‘woman’ it all takes a back seat. There is no memory of all that friendship and shared workspace. In the famous, but not spoken much about these days, Actress Assault case of 2017, Edavela Babu and Bindu Panicker pulled back on their own statements in court. Well, could not have expected much from them. And now it's Mr Siddique and Bhama," she wrote.

Revathy also expressed surprise at Bhama's decision. "I suppose one can understand why Mr Siddique did it, but Bhamaa??? Having been a friend and confidante, she too denies what she told the cops soon after the incident. The survivor has been going through such tough times all these years just to get justice which will be an opening to justice for women in general... why is it that no one thinks about what goes on in a survivor’s life and family for having filed a complaint?"