A court in Kozhikode on Tuesday, August 2, granted anticipatory bail to author and social activist Civic Chandran, who is facing two sexual harassment cases. He was booked by the Koyilandy police on July 17 on charges of molesting a young Dalit woman writer but the 71-year-old has been absconding and evading arrest.
Court sources said the order has been issued on a complaint lodged by a woman writer belonging to the Scheduled Tribes community, alleging sexual harassment by Civic Chandran during a book exhibition in April. Acting on the complaint, the Koyilandi police had registered a case against him for sexual abuse besides another under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. However, police have not been able to arrest Chandran, as he had been absconding ever since the first complaint was lodged and a case was registered.
Even as the court was hearing the anticipatory bail plea moved by the accused, another young writer had approached the police late last week with yet another allegation of sexual harassment by Chandran during a book exhibition in Kozhikode in February 2020. A case has been registered and proceedings are pending. Sources said that the bail is allowed in the first case, and the accused could be arrested in the second complaint.
The first case of alleged harassment against him came out after the woman shared it through Women Against Sexual Harassment, a Facebook page. In the post published on July 22, the survivor said that she met Civic Chandran for the first time at a gathering of friends, and some of them had been walking on the nearby beach, when Chandran grabbed her hand and attempted to harass her.
Meanwhile, a memorandum - endorsed by 100 people who are social or cultural figures - was submitted to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on July 25, seeking his intervention against delay in the arrest of Civic Chandran.