The Dubai police have been unable to track down Malayalam actor Vijay Babu, who has been accused of sexual abuse and assault. The Dubai police have been on the lookout for the Malayalam actor ever since the Kochi police on April 28 issued a Blue Corner notice to Dubai police through Interpol requesting them to track down Vijay Babu. It is believed that the actor went into hiding somewhere in the Gulf Emirate after Kochi police registered a rape case against him following a complaint by a young female actor.
Kochi City Police Commissioner C H Nagaraju said that the Dubai police are yet to provide any information about Vijay Babu’s whereabouts. “We have also sent a request to its embassy here seeking to expedite the tracing process,” he said.
When the case was filed on April 22 and the actor-producer learnt about the same, he was in Goa. He then quickly fled to Bengaluru and finally to Dubai. The Kochi city police had given the Dubai police all of the essential information, including the specifics of his travel. The Kochi city police had gotten an arrest warrant from a court and passed it over to the Dubai police through Interpol to speed up the process of allowing the Dubai police to detain Vijay Babu once he was located.
According to a state Special Branch officer, Babu chose Dubai as his hiding place because he was told by a few influential people in the city that he would be secure until the HC or Supreme Court decides on his anticipatory release request.
Malayalam actor Vijay Babu accused in a second #MeToo harassment case
It may be noted that on May 1, Vijay Babu was accused of sexual abuse and assault of a woman for the second time in a row. The Instagram page ‘MeToo Kerala’ featured the story of the victim in which she revealed that the actor leaned forward and forcefully kissed her without her consent in a meeting.
Prior to this, in April, a woman accused Vijay Babu of assaulting her after she refused to have sex with him.
Soon after the news broke, Babu went live on social media, claiming that he was the “true victim” in this case and that he would pursue legal action against the complainant, whom he also named.
The police then, apart from the victim’s complaint, also registered a second case against the actor for disclosing the name of the complainant. While on the run, Babu filed an anticipatory bail petition, but the Kerala High Court gave him no recourse, posting the matter to be taken up after the summer recess on May 18.
In his defence, Babu stated in his anticipatory bail plea that the actor was attempting to blackmail him. Vijay Babu further stated that he has all of the proof necessary to prove his innocence, including chat conversations between him and the complainant, and that he is prepared to present it to the court.
