The Kochi City police on September 25 issued a lookout circular against popular Malayali vlogger Shakeer Suban in a case of sexual harassment registered against him on a petition filed by a Saudi Arabian woman earlier this month. Suban runs a YouTube channel by the name ‘Mallu Traveler’.
The accused had gone to Canada by the time the petition was filed on September 15. Though he said that he would come to back to the city and face the law in a video posted on his YouTube channel shortly thereafter, he was yet to do that. Hence, the police have issued the lookout circular.
It is also learnt that the accused is planning to approach the court for anticipatory bail. The police had registered the case on a petition filed by the 29-year-old woman from Mecca.
According to the complainant, Suban tried to sexually abuse her when she had gone to his room at a hotel in the city along with a male friend in the early hours of September 13. He allegedly made a move on her when her friend stepped outside.
The police had registered the case invoking Sections 354 (assault of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 354A (i) (sexual harassment, physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In his video, Suban had since claimed innocence. In a nearly 12-minute-long video, he accused the man-woman duo of plotting a honey trap and described the petition as an effort to obtain reach on social media. He said the duo had travelled in his car after the alleged overtures and questioned as to why the petition was filed only three days after the alleged incident. He said he would soon release evidence establishing his innocence and face the law when he returned home.
