Explained: Who is Vijay Babu, the Malayalam producer booked for sexual assault

On Monday, Kerala Police registered a case against Malayalam actor and producer Vijay Babu for an alleged sexual assault. According to the Ernakulam South Police, the complaint was received by a woman on 22 April. Who is Vijay Babu? Vijay Babu is the founder of Friday Film House, a film production company. He won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Children’s Film (as producer) for Philips and The Monkey Pen. What was the complaint? The woman, who appeared in movies produced by Vijay Babu’s production house, lodged a complaint with the police on 22 April and detailed through a Facebook post the physical assault and sexual exploitation she had allegedly suffered at the hands of the producer-actor for the past one and half months. “He behaved like my saviour for my personal and professional problems but under the guise sexually exploited me,” the female actor alleged in the FB post. She further alleged that his modus operandi was trapping her with the role of a “saviour cum  friend cum lover” and thereafter intoxicating and sexually abusing her several times in the past one and half months. Besides rape and physical assault, he also forced her to consume alcohol and ‘happy pill,’ a drug. She expressed fear over discussing the assault and exploitation to others because of his clout in the film industry. “I got to know that there are several other women who have been subjected to this trap by Vijay Babu. He has recorded a nude video of mine and threatened me with its consequences and also threatened my life,” the victim alleged. The complainant alleged that she has been sexually assaulted by Vijay Babu in a flat in Kochi. She is a native of Kozhikode district. Another case charged on Vijay Babu for disclosing the survivor’s identity on social media However, Babu, in a Facebook live on Tuesday, denied the charges but admitted that he knew the female actor for the past five years. Besides denying the charges, the producer also said he would file a defamation suit against the complainant for tarnishing his image. He mentioned the name of the survivor several times during the FB live saying that he was doing it deliberately as she was not the victim and he was the real victim in the case. As identifying survivor’s name is an offense, another case was also slapped on him. “A rape case was registered against him first. As he disclosed the victim’s identity, another case was also filed. It seems that he is out of station and absconding now,” a senior police officer told Press Trust of India. What is the latest update? Kochi City Police Deputy Commissioner VU Kuriakose said, “A probe is on. He has gone into hiding after the rape case was registered.” Meanwhile, on the Facebook page of “Women Against Sexual Harassment,’’ the rape survivor said Vijay Babu had assaulted her physically and sexually from 13 March to 14 April. She said she had worked with Babu for a movie. “He won my trust by being friendly and advising me as I was a novice in the film industry. Under the guise of a professional guide, he sexually exploited me. Disregarding my protest, he raped me several times,’’ narrated the complainant in the Facebook post. (With inputs from Press Trust of India)