The Madras High Court on Thursday restrained the police from arresting former minister Manikandan till June 9 in connection with allegations of rape against him by an actor. A Tamil actor recently filed a complaint against former AIADMK IT Minister M Manikandan for promising to marry her and then abandoning her after forcing her to get an abortion all the three times that she got pregnant. Based on this, a complaint was filed with Adyar All-Women Police Station on charges including rape, causing miscarriage without consent of the woman, and cheating, under the IPC and relevant sections of Information Technology Act.
The police then started a search for Manikandan, who was absconding. Manikandan, through his lawyers, then moved the Madras High Court seeking bail. In the bail petition, he said that the complainant filed a complaint once there was a change in the government, and there is no evidence towards the allegations raised by her. He claimed the actor's intention was to collect money from popular people like him and she has similar complaints pending against her in Malaysia.
However, the complainant made a few submissions against giving bail to the politician. In her submission, she said that Manikandan allegedly told her that he was not happy with his marriage and promised to marry her. However, when she got pregnant, he allegedly forced her into three abortions, and also threatened to share her private pictures online.
On Thursday, the bail petition came before the bench of Justice R Subramanian. The lawyer appearing for the actor said that the politician threatened her by releasing her private pictures online, and therefore, he should not be granted bail.
The counsel for the police said that the investigations were at a preliminary stage and the case is registered under strict sections, hence, the bail should be denied. However, the lawyer appearing for Manikandan argued that the charges are false and the former minister should not be arrested till the investigation is over.
The judge ordered that the petition of the actor for investigation be listed, and adjourned the case to June 9. The judge also said that Manikandan should not be arrested till then.