'Faced sexual harassment at Kochi bar'; Court stays arrest of actress Lakshmi Menon

KOCHI: Actress Lakshmi Menon sought anticipatory bail in the High Court in the case of abducting and beating an IT employee after blocking his car. Lakshmi, who is the third accused in the case, is currently at large.

The police had arrested Mithun and Aneesh, who were with the actress. They were accompanied by another female friend. An Aluva native IT company employee filed a complaint alleging that he was abducted and beaten by Lakshmi Menon and her gang.

The court stayed the actress's arrest after she filed an anticipatory bail application in the court. The case was adjourned to be considered after Onam. The High Court has directed that she should not be arrested till then.

Lakshmi alleged in her anticipatory bail application that the complainant had verbally and sexually abused her at a bar. She said that the complainant followed her in a car after she left the bar and even attacked her with a beer bottle. She dismissed the complaint filed by the IT employee and called it fabricated.

The argument and scuffle took place at a bar on Banerjee Road in Kochi on Sunday night. The FIR states that the accused stopped the car of the IT employee at the North Bridge at around 11.45 pm and dragged the complainant out. The complainant was then pushed into the other car, where he was allegedly beaten. Later, he was dropped off at the Aluva-Paravur intersection. Following a complaint filed by the youth at the North Police Station on Monday, the accused were identified through an investigation focused on the car's number plate with the help of CCTV footage.