Kerala Government To Appeal Verdict In Actor Assault Case
The Kerala government on Monday announced that it will appeal against the trial court verdict in the 2017 actor assault case.
Industries Minister P. Rajeev said he had spoken to the Chief Minister, and the government firmly stands with the survivor. “The government is with the survivor. We will appeal,” he said.
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Education Minister V. Sivankutty also supported the move, stating that the state cannot ignore such a serious crime and will take the case to the higher court.
The appeal decision comes hours after the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court delivered its long-awaited judgment on Monday.
The court acquitted actor Dileep, the eighth accused in the case, saying the prosecution failed to prove his role in any conspiracy.
At the same time, the court found six accused guilty of gang rape and criminal conspiracy: Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, B. Manikandan, V. P. Vijeesh, H. Saleem, and Pradeep. All ten accused were present when the verdict was read out.
The case began on February 17, 2017, when the survivor, a well-known actor, was kidnapped and sexually assaulted inside her own car while travelling from Thrissur to Kochi.
Pulsar Suni recorded the assault on his phone and later told the survivor that he was acting on a “quotation,” hinting at a larger conspiracy. This led investigators to arrest Dileep on July 10, 2017, accusing him of masterminding the attack due to personal grudges.
The trial, one of the longest and most controversial in Kerala, saw witnesses turning hostile, prosecutors resigning, and major twists such as the illegal access of the memory card containing the assault video. After his acquittal, Dileep told the media that the case was “fake, created by police with support from certain media sections.”
