Rape case: HC grants bail to producer-actor Vijay Babu

One-liner: Malayalam movie producer and actor Vijay Babu was on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail by the Kerala HC in a rape case against him.

Conditions: A judge granted Babu the relief subject to the conditions that he shall surrender before the investigating officer (IO) on June 27 for interrogation. 

Interrogation: He can be interrogated for the next 7 days from then till July 3 and he shall not interact with the victim or any of the witnesses in the case, the court said.

Not leave Kerala: The other conditions imposed by the court were that he shall not indulge in any form of attack through social media against the victim or her family, not leave Kerala and if a fresh passport has been issued to him, to surrender the same.

Bond: The court further said that if the IO intends to arrest Babu, he shall be released on bail on his executing a bond of ₹5L along with two sureties of the same amount.

Allegation: In his plea, Babu had alleged that the rape case has been filed against him to blackmail him.

Sexual assault: He has been accused of sexually assaulting a female actor and disclosing the victim's identity through a Facebook live session.

Bottom line: The woman, who appeared in movies produced by Babu's production house, lodged a complaint with police on April 22 about the physical assault on her.