KOCHI: Based on flaws in the victim's statement and facts that emerged during the investigation, the Ernakulam District Principal Sessions court decided to grant anticipatory bail to actors Mukesh and Edavela Babu. The Ernakulam District Principal Sessions Judge went through the differences in statements the victim gave to the police and the chats between the victim and Mukesh since 2009.
In the Edavela Babu case, the victim’s initial statement claimed that she approached the accused for AMMA membership in 2009. First, her modesty was outraged and then she was raped at the apartment in Kaloor in 2009. However, Babu produced a sale deed of the apartment claiming that he purchased the flat in December 2010.
Countering it, the police claimed that they received information from the present caretaker of the apartment that Babu was staying at the apartment in 2008. However, in the case diary submitted to the court, it was found that the present caretaker was only appointed in 2013 after the death of the previous caretaker.
Similarly, the victim in her First Information (FI) statement claimed that she went to the apartment of Babu in her car driven by a person named Shihab. While returning home, she told him what had happened there. However, in the case diary, it is stated Shihab denied it to the police.
In the confidential statement given before the magistrate, the victim claimed that she met Babu during a film shooting at the Thiruvananthapuram secretariat in 2007. There he had demanded sexual favours. But the same facts were absent in the FI statement given by the victim to the police.
“On an analysis of the factual situation, it is seen prima facie that even if the prosecution allegation is taken into consideration, the complainant approached the petitioner and went to his flat with a clear knowledge about the alleged demand of sexual favours.
It is seen that the victim went there and indulged in sexual intercourse without raising any objection as per her FI statement. Similarly, the fact that the petitioner purchased the flat in 2010 also prima facie shakes the credibility of the case to a certain extent,” the court observed in Edavela Babu’s pre-arrest bail order.
The court in its order granting anticipatory bail to Mukesh noted that in the FI statement of the victim recorded on August 28, there was no element of forcible intercourse mentioned in it. Then Mukesh filed the anticipatory bail petition on August 29 and an initial hearing on it was also held. Then the Special Investigation Team (SIT) recorded her statement on August 30 in which she claimed forceful intercourse.
Later, the court examined interviews the victim gave to television news channels. In one interview, the victim claimed that she approached Mukesh for AMMA membership in 2010. In another interview, she claimed that she tried to get AMMA membership in 2013. In one interview, the victim claimed that she approached actor Edavela Babu first. Thereafter, she started an acquaintance with Mukesh at the time of the movie ‘Calendar’.
On the other hand, in the FI statement given by the victim in the case against Edavela Babu, she claimed to have contacted Edavela Babu in 2010 to secure AMMA membership as directed by Mukesh.
Similarly, the court in its order mentioned the email sent by the victim on March 7, 2009, in which she told Mukesh that he was decent. Similarly, the court considered a WhatsApp message sent by the victim to Mukesh on April 11, 2022. In the chat, the victim reminded Mukesh about the incident at his villa. She stated that there was a deal to be fulfilled with that. She sent her bank account details and demanded D1 lakh.
“On analysis of the FI statement as well as the further statement, it seems prima facie that defacto complainant accompanied petitioner on the date of occurrence in his BMW car. The defacto complainant is a law graduate. She is a person with the capacity to understand the consequences of sexual indulgence. Still, she accompanied the petitioner and had sexual intercourse,” the court observed.
Actor Parvathy R Krishna comes out in support of Nivin
Kochi: After actor-director Vineeth Sreenivasan, actor Parvathy R Krishna came out supporting Nivin Pauly following a sexual assault case registered against him based on a complaint filed by an Ernakulam resident. Parvathy, who is popular as a serial artist and anchor, said in a social media post that the actor was with her on December 14 at a shooting location. “I was with Nivin at the shooting location of ‘Varshangalkku Shesham.’ I played the role of an anchor in the film. I felt the public should know this, and it is the truth,” she said in a video posted on Instagram. She also shared a video and photograph captured on December 14 last year during the film shooting. Nivin is the sixth accused in the case registered by Oonnukal police on Tuesday.
