The Kerala Police issued a lookout notice for Malayalam film actor Siddique after the Kerala High Court dismissed his plea for anticipatory bail on Tuesday, reported The Indian Express on Friday.

Siddique has been absconding since he was denied anticipatory bail. Although the case against him was filed last month, the police had not taken steps to arrest him until recently.

Siddique had moved the court seeking relief in a rape case registered against him on the complaint of a woman who accused Siddique of raping her at a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016.

The police booked Siddique for rape and criminal intimidation in August. The first information against him was filed at the Museum Police Station in Thiruvananthapuram.

He was also accused of illegally detaining and threatening the woman.

The Kerala Hight Court dismissed Siddique’s petition noting that the available evidence suggested his involvement in the case.

Siddique has filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court seeking relief.

The complainant in the case is among several women from the Malayalam film industry who have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by their male colleagues after the release of the Justice Hema committee report in August.

Siddique’s petition in the High Court contended that the allegations against him were made in retaliation for a press conference he had jointly addressed with the office bearers of the Association of Malayalam Movie Actors soon after the Hema committee report was published.

The complainant had first made the allegations against him in 2019, Siddique claimed, adding that important details in her account had been changed so that he could be booked for a non-bailable offence.

The state government, however, said that while there were minor variations in the statements given by the complainant, she had nevertheless publicly accused Siddique of misbehaving with her several times since 2019.

Other members of the Malayalam film industry who have been booked on charges of sexual misconduct after the release of the Hema committee report include actor and Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA M Mukesh, actor Jayasurya and directorVA Shrikumar Menon.

Also read: What the Kerala film industry needs to do to fix its problems