Malayalam actor-producer Vijay Babu, who is facing rape charges, is in Dubai

By Sreejith Kumar | NT

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala police have tightened the noose around actor-producer Vijay Babu for his alleged sexual assault on a young actor.

Kochi City Police Commissioner CH Nagaraju confirmed that Vijay Babu is in Dubai and all efforts will be taken to bring him back to Kerala. “All allegations raised by the survivor prima facie appear to be true. He escaped to Dubai from Bengaluru on April 24. We have issued a lookout notice against him,” Nagaraju said. 

Police have collected crucial evidence, including CCTV footage, to show Vijay Babu’s involvement in the crime.

The survivor had alleged that Vijay Babu took her to five different places and physically and sexually assaulted her from March 13 to April 14, with the offer of roles in films produced by him.

According to the complaint filed with the Kochi South Police Station on April 22, she alleged that he had threatened to kill her if she revealed details of the abuse to anybody.

As police intensified the investigation, Vijay Babu violated the law once again when he disclosed the survivor’s identity on Facebook Live on April 27.

In a statement published on the Facebook page, Women Against Sexual Harassment, the survivor laid bare all details of the assault.

“Vijay Babu first gained my trust immediately after my entry to the film industry. He behaved like a saviour and exploited me. I thwarted his sexual advances whenever I remained conscious. But he repeatedly raped me after forcing me to drink alcohol. He was like a monster,” the statement read.

One more allegation
Adding to Vijay Babu’s woes, another young actor too raised an assault allegation against him on Friday. The actor alleged that Vijay Babu tried to forcibly kiss her at a shooting site. “When she protested, he apologised and appealed to her not to make the incident public,” the actor wrote on Facebook.

Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), an organisation formed to protect women actors’ rights and to make sure no sexual harassment takes place at shooting locations, urged the authorities to take quick action against Vijay Babu. It also asked the film fraternity to suspend him from all film bodies.

Vjay Babu was in the news in 2017 for allegedly assaulting his co-producer Sandra Thomas. Sandra had accused him of physically assaulting her at their office premise in Kochi. At that time too, Vijay Babu took to social media and stated that a fake case had been registered against him.

Vijay Babu launched his acting career in television serials before switching to films. He formed Friday Film House with actor Sandra Thomas till they parted ways in 2017. His company produced 14 films, including Angamali Diaries, Adu Oru Bheekara Jeevi Anu, Adi Kapyare Kootamani and Sufiyum Sujathayum.