AIADMK Ex-MLA Manikandan not to be arrested in Shantini Theva rape case till June 9: HC

In the latest development, the Madras High Court adjourned the anticipatory bail hearing of former AIADMK Minister M Manikandan in the rape case lodged against him by actor Shantini Theva on Thursday. A single-judge HC bench led by Justice R Subramanian adjourned Manikandan's anticipatory bail plea hearing to June 9 and ordered that the former would not be arrested until the next hearing. Actor Shantini Theva has filed an intervenor application at the HC in the anticipatory bail plea filed by AIADMK leader M Manikandan. 

AIADMK leader M Manikandan moves Madras HC seeking anticipatory bail

Accusing actor Shantini Theva of lodging the plaint with the ulterior motive to 'extort money,' the petition filed by AIADMK's M Manikandan accused the complainant of being an extortionist & that she operated a gang to set up honey-traps for vulnerable persons in the society. Claiming that Manikandan never had the 'chance to live his life' as alleged by Shantini Theva, the AIADMK leader's petition at the HC noted that there were complaints of the actor cheating Malaysians on the pretext of getting a chance to work in the Tamil cinema industry. Further, the AIADMK leader denied taking a 'naked photo' of Shantini Theva and noted that the offence under section 67A of the Information Technology Act was added only to aid the allegation. AIADMK leader M Manikandan sought the Madras High Court to grant him anticipatory bail in the matter. 

Actor accuses AIADMK's Manikandan of abusing, cheating her

Former AIADMK Minister M Manikandan was booked under Sections 417, 376, 313, 323, 506 (ii) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under section 67A of the Information Technology Act based on a complaint lodged by Tamil actor Shantini Theva. Speaking to the press earlier last week, Shantini Theva, who was also a former ambassador for Tamil Nadu tourism, claimed that she was physically & mentally abused by the former AIADMK Minister for nearly five years while they were in a relationship during which she was also allegedly forced to abort thrice after becoming pregnant. The actor also alleged that the Minister had threatened her family.

Narrating her ordeal to the media, Shantini Theva claimed that she met AIADMK leader Manikandan in 2017 and got close to him after the latter promised to do business together in Malaysia. The actor revealed that she frequented the ex-Minister's bungalow as she was told by Manikandan that his wife did not take good care of him and that he allegedly wanted to marry her. Noting that she had reportedly tagged along with the AIADMK leader to several places during his official tours, Shantini Tehva claimed that she was tortured and was also forced to abort after becoming pregnant as the AIADMK leader had objected to it, allegedly citing that he was a Minister. 

Explaining what led her to file a police complaint against AIADMK leader Manikandan, Shantini Theva claimed that the ex-Minister had threatened to leak a photo of the actor (which he had allegedly taken without her knowledge). Further, she claimed that Manikandan had many photos of her in his possession and filed a police complaint against him, seeking her photos to be deleted. On being asked why she did not raise a complaint while she was physically abused by Manikandan, Shantini Theva asked who would have taken her complaint seriously if she had filed one then & went on to say that they (Manikandan & her) had taken life forward at multiple points after compromises.  

Noting that all the details of her abuse had been mentioned in the complaint, Shantini Theva claimed that she had WhatsApp photos as evidence to show that she lived with Manikandan for five years. Showing pictures from her alleged WhatsApp chat with the AIADMK leader (which she attached with her complaint to the Police), Shantini Theva claimed that Manikandan had threatened her by saying that he had photos of her including those in a compromising position.