Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday extended the relief to actor-producer Vijay Babu, who is accused of rape by an actress, from arrest till Tuesday (June 7). Babu had slipped out of the country in the fourth week of April after the actress had levelled the rape allegations and despite the best efforts of the police probe team to get him back, Babu arrived here on Wednesday, only after the court asked the police not to arrest him. Babu who arrived at Kochi, first drove to a temple and then without going home presented himself before the police who questioned him for around nine hours and only then he came to his house, here.
On Thursday, again Babu presented himself before the police and soon came the court directive which asked the police not to arrest him till Tuesday. The court also asked Babu that he under no circumstances should try to influence the ‘victim’. The Kerala police failed despite trying their best to bring back Babu, who slipped out of the country last month to Dubai and from there – after the police took steps to issue a red corner notice – headed for Georgia. The actor-producer was on the run after the actress from Kozhikode filed a complaint in Ernakulam on April 22 that she was raped and beaten up by him several times in a flat in Kochi.
She has also accused him of giving her intoxicants before sexually abusing her. As the news surfaced, Babu appeared live on his social media handle claiming that he was the “real victim” in this case, adding that he would take appropriate legal steps against the complainant whom he also named. The police, apart from the initial complaint, have registered a second case against him for disclosing the name of the complainant. The court will hear this case again on Tuesday.—IANS