The Principal District and Sessions Court, Ernakulam on Monday (December 8) acquitted prominent Malayalam actor Dileep in the 2017 actress rape and abduction case.
Smt. Honey M. Varghese pronounced the verdict today in open court, giving a conclusion to the trial that spanned over a period of 8 years.
The judge found Pulsar Suni (A1), Marting Antony (A2), B Manikandan (A3), VP Vijeesh (A4), H Saleem (A5), C Pradeep (A 6) guilty of rape, conspiracy, abduction and other offences. They have been found guilty of offences under Section 120 B, 340, 354, 366, 354B and 376D of the Indian Penal Code. Their sentence will be pronounced on December 12.
Actor Dileep(A8) was accused of being the master conspirator behind the crime. Apart from Dileep, the Court also acquitted A7, A9 and A15.
Background
The actress assault case refers to the abduction and sexual assault of an actress in a moving vehicle in the outskirts of Cochin city that occurred on February 17, 2017. The accused persons are also alleged to have taken videos of the assault.
The prime accused in the case is Sunil N.S. @ Pulsar Suni whereas actor Dileep is arrayed as the 8th accused in the case. Dileep is accused of hatching the criminal conspiracy behind the abduction and sexual assault.
Originally, there were 12 accused in the case, out of which two, Pratheesh Chacko and Raju Joseph, were discharged and one Vishnu turned approver. The other accused in the case are Martin Antony, Manikandan B., Vijeesh V.P., Salim H. @ Vadival Salim, Pradeep, Charly Thomas and Sanilkumar @ Mesthiri Sanil.
While Dileep spent around 80 days in custody before the High Court granted him bail, Suni spent around 7 ½ years in jail before the Supreme Court finally granted him bail in September 2024, after noting that the trial is not likely to conclude soon.
During the progress of the trial, multiple litigation ensued in the case, initiated by the survivor and Dileep, before the High Court and the Supreme Court.
In 2018, Dileep had filed a plea before the High Court seeking a CBI investigation in the case, alleging that the Kerala Police was biased. This was dismissed observing that the accused cannot demand which agency should investigate the case against him. An appeal against this was filed in this year, which was also dismissed by the Division Bench noting that the trial was heading towards a conclusion.
In February 2019, the High Court allowed the survivor’s plea to have a woman judge conduct the trial in the case. Later, in 2020, she moved the High Court again seeking transfer of trial, alleging that the judge was hostile and biased.
In November 2019, while rejecting Dileep’s plea for a copy of the memory card allegedly containing visuals of the sexual crime, the Supreme Court had ordered that the trial in the case should be completed expeditiously, “preferably within six months”.
Thereafter, the Apex Court had granted extension of time for completion the trial while directing that the proceedings be completed as expeditiously as possible. It had passed the order allowing an extension application filed by the trial judge seeking time till March 31, 2024.
In August this year, based on a petition by a journalist, the Kerala High Court had called for a status report from the Principle District and Sessions Court in Ernakulam, which is trying the actress assault case since 2018.
After completing the trial and arguments in the case, the Sessions Court had reserved its verdict, to be pronounced today.
Case No: SC 118 of 2018
Case Title: State of Kerala v. Sunil N.S. @ Pulsar Suni and Ors.
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