Days after being accused of sexual abuse and assault of a woman, another woman has recently accused actor Vijay Babu of harassment at workplace in an Instagram #MeToo post. The Instagram page ‘MeToo Kerala’ has featured the story of the victim in which she has revealed that the actor leaned forward and forcefully kissed her without her consent in a meeting.
Malayalam actor Vijay Babu has already been booked in an earlier rape case after an actress accused him of physical assault. In a new development, a post from the Instagram page ‘MeTooKerala’ has noted a similar incident when the actor allegedly assaulted another woman during a meeting at his office. The incident is from November 2021 when the victim sought a meeting with the actor-cum-producer for a ‘work-related-thing’. During the meeting, personal issues were also being discussed for which the actor asked whether he could help.
The victim has revealed that Vijay Babu was drinking alcohol and also offered her the same. All of a sudden, the accused allegedly leaned towards her to forcibly kiss her on the lips. “Suddenly, he just leaned to kiss me on my lips, without any question, without any consent. Luckily, my reflex action was super quick and I just pulled myself backwards and maintained a distance from him,” the post reads. The victim further states, “I looked into his face, and he then asked me: Just one kiss?”
The actor-producer reportedly started apologizing for the incident and requested the woman not to reveal it to the world. She notes that she discontinued her work describing what the actor did to her as ‘cheap and scary’.
Earlier accusation of rape against Vijay Babu
Earlier in April, a woman accused Vijay Babu of assaulting her after she refused to have sex with him. She noted in a Facebook post, “One day he stamped on my stomach when I refused to have sex on my periods. He spat on my face and forced himself on me. I was too traumatised to realise what was happening at that time but today I realise I was raped.” She said that Babu had physically assaulted and sexually exploited her from March 13 to April 14, 2022.
The woman in a Facebook group named ‘Women Against Sexual Harassment’ elaborated on the details of her accusation in a post dated April 27. Reportedly, the actor is absconding after the earlier case of rape charges has sent shock waves in the state. Apparently, the actor has moved to the Kerala High Court seeking anticipatory bail after police issued a lookout notice in this case.
Kochi City Police Commissioner CH Nagaraju has noted that a police case against Vijay Babu was registered on the same day as the complaint was received on April 22. While the law prohibits publicly revealing the victim’s name in such cases, the actor in a Facebook live, revealed the identity of the victim saying that he will file a defamation case against her. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m the victim. The law of this country protects her and she is at ease while I’m the one who is suffering. I will file a defamation case. I won’t let her get away that easily,” he said in the video. For revealing the identity of the victim, Vijay Babu has invited additional charges against him.
Earlier, similar allegations were levelled against the actor by co-producer Sandra Thomas which were later withdrawn. Kerala film actor’s organisation AMMA, of which Vijay Babu is a member has sought an explanation from him regarding the barrage of allegations against him regarding the harassment cases. As per reports, the police is also considering impounding his passport if he does not surrender.
