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The Kerala High Court, on Tuesday, August 19, has passed an interim order restraining the police from arresting rapper Vedan. Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas passed the order, while hearing his anticipatory bail plea in a case filed by a young doctor, alleging rape under the pretext of marriage.
According to a LiveLaw report, the court said that he should not be arrested until the bail plea is considered.
Vedan has been booked for rape by the Thrikkakkara police in Kozhikode, on July 31, based on a compaint filed by a woman, who alleged that he had raped her in 2021 and then sexually assaulted her multiple times between August 2021 and March 2023 under the pretext of marriage.
He has been absconding ever since the complaint was filed, and the police issued a lookout notice to stop him from fleeing the country.
Meanwhile, two more women have sent their complaints of sexual assault to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. One woman said that they met over shared interest in music and that she was drawn by the Dalit politics in his music. The other complainant came in contact with Vedan when she began working on a paper on Dalit music. Both the women had come out with their #MeToo statements against Vedan in 2021, they stated in their emails.
In April this year, he was arrested with seven others for possession of ganja. Later, the Forest Department also booked him for the alleged possession of a suspected leopard tooth pendant.