Vijay Babu arrives in Kochi, and says will cooperate with the police

PTI, Jun 1, 2022, 10:51 AM IST

A day after the Kerala High Court protected him from arrest till June 2, Malayalam movie producer and actor Vijay Babu, accused in a rape case, after arriving here on Wednesday morning said he has full confidence in the judiciary.

Babu, who briefly spoke to reporters at the Cochin International Airport, said he will fully cooperate with the police in its investigation into the case.

He also expressed his thanks to his family, friends, and others who stood by him and supported him amidst the allegations against him.

The high court on Tuesday had asked the police and the immigration department not to arrest Babu when he arrives here.

While directing the actor to appear before the police after his arrival, the court said he was not to be arrested till June 2, the next date of hearing of his anticipatory bail plea.

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

He has been accused of allegedly sexually assaulting a female actor and disclosing the victim’s identity through a Facebook live session.

The producer-actor has also alleged in his plea, that there is a ”trend” of making sexual allegations against anybody to tarnish the image of a person who is having popularity in the society and for the sake of publicity.

He has claimed that he was innocent and was ”highly aggrieved” by the one-sided approach of the authorities to make him a ”scapegoat for the purpose of news and the media.” Babu, who is reportedly absconding since the police charged him with rape following the woman’s complaint, appeared in a Facebook live session and claimed innocence, saying he is the real victim.

As the producer, who is also the founder of the production company Friday Film House, disclosed the survivor’s name and identity, which is an offense, another case was also slapped on him.

The woman, who appeared in movies produced by Vijay Babu’s production house, lodged a complaint with the police on April 22 and detailed through a Facebook post the physical assault and sexual exploitation she had allegedly suffered at the hands of the producer-actor for the past one-and-half months.