IMPORTANT POINT
Delay in filing FIR in sexual assault cases is not fatal; courts must consider psychological barriers faced by victims.

ORDER :

1. The accused in Crime No. 1192 of 2024 of the Museum Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram, which is registered against him for allegedly committing the offences punishable under Sections 376 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, has filed the application under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, for an order of pre-arrest bail.

2. The survivor of the above crime has submitted Annexure 2 complaint to the State Police Chief, inter alia, alleging that the accused got in touch with her through Facebook in 2014. He frequently interacted with her and her mother over the phone and via Skype. The accused encouraged the survivor to work in the cinema and assured her of all help from his side. In 2016, the accused invited the survivor and her parents to attend the preview of his movie ‘Sukhamayirikatte’ which they attended. It was for the first time the survivor met the accused. After the movie, the accused invited the survivor to the Mascot Hotel for lunch and to discuss on a new film in which his son was proposed to play the lead role. Accordingly, the survivor went to the accused's hotel room. The accused made the survivor sit on a chair near his bed, and he explained the adjustments and compromises that are expected of women to excel in the field. After that, he went near the survivor and, without her consent, grabbed her hand, pressed her fingers and said that her nails were looking good and that he loved her nail polish colour. Suddenly, he kissed her cheeks, neck, lips and shoulders, and then he grabbed and pressed her body very hard, including her stomach and breasts. The survivor was startled by the accused's acts and froze with fear. He then touched her genitals. He removed the survivor's clothes and inner garments and bit and licked the survivor’s body, breasts and vagina. The survivor tried her best to push away the accused, but he confined her. He requested the survivor to permit him to lick her genitals if she did not allow him to have penetrative sex. Yet, he attempted to have sexual intercourse, which the survivor resisted. The accused touched, inserted his finger and spat on the survivor's genitals. The survivor got angry, sad and broke down. She told the accused that she would tell people about the incident. But he told her that no one would believe her, as she does not have a profile and her standing is zero compared to his. The survivor was shell-shocked and managed to escape from the room, completely shaken. Even after the incident, the accused attempted to contact the survivor, but she refused to respond to his calls, and she blocked him. The survivor belongs to a middle-class family. The trauma was so much that she could not reveal the whole incident even to her parents. In 2019, she gathered courage and mentioned the harassment in a Facebook post. Subsequently, the survivor got threatening messages, due to which she never had the courage to complain. The survivor has been living in immense trauma, fear and distress and still fears for her life. Hence, urgent intervention may be made. Consequent to the complaint, the instant FIR was registered against the accused.

3. Heard; Sri. B. Raman Pillai, the learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner; Sri. P. Narayanan, Additional Public Prosecutor; and Sri. V. Harish, the learned Counsel appearing for the survivor/intervenor.

4. The learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner zealously argued that the petitioner is innocent of the accusations attributed against him. The alleged incident occurred in 2016, but the FIR was registered only in 2024, i.e., after eight years, proving the falsity and hollowness of the crime. The survivor has given no plausible explanation for the inordinate delay in lodging the complaint. In the Annexure 5 Facebook post published by the survivor on 21.05.2019, she failed to mention anything about the sexual assault that allegedly took place at the Mascot Hotel, as alleged in the instant complaint. This ma