BREAKING | ACTOR DILEEP ACQUITTED IN KERALA ACTRESS ABDUCTION & ASSAULT CASE; SIX OTHERS INCLUDING PULSAR SUNI CONVICTED:

The Principal District and Sessions Court at Ernakulam on Monday (December 8) acquitted well-known Malayalam actor Dileep in the 2017 actress rape and abduction case, concluding one of Kerala’s most widely-followed criminal trials. The judgment was pronounced by Smt. Honey M. Varghese in open court, marking the end of proceedings that continued for nearly eight years.

While Dileep, arrayed as the eighth accused (A8), was cleared of all charges, the court found six accused, Pulsar Suni (A1), Martin Antony (A2), B. Manikandan (A3), V. P. Vijeesh (A4), H. Saleem alias Vadival Saleem (A5), and C. Pradeep (A6), guilty of rape, abduction, conspiracy, and related offences. Their conviction covers offences under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 340, 354, 366, 354-B, and 376-D (gang rape) of the Indian Penal Code. The sentencing of these six convicts has been scheduled for December 12. In addition to Dileep, the court acquitted the seventh, ninth, and fifteenth accused in the case. Dileep had been alleged to be the mastermind behind the assault; however, the trial court found the prosecution evidence insufficient to establish conspiracy on his part.

The case stems from an incident on February 17, 2017, when a leading Malayalam actress was abducted in a moving vehicle near Cochin and sexually assaulted. The prosecution alleged that the perpetrators recorded videos of the attack to blackmail the survivor. Pulsar Suni was identified as the primary assailant, and the investigation later linked several others, leading to the inclusion of Dileep based on alleged involvement in planning the crime.

Initially, twelve persons were charge-sheeted. Two accused, Pratheesh Chacko and Raju Joseph, were discharged at earlier stages, while another accused, Vishnu, turned approver. The remaining accused included Martin Antony, Manikandan B., Vijeesh V. P., Saleem H., Pradeep, Charly Thomas, and Sanilkumar. During the course of proceedings, Dileep was in custody for about 80 days before receiving bail from the High Court. Meanwhile, Pulsar Suni remained incarcerated for nearly seven and a half years until he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in September 2024, after the Court noted that an early conclusion of trial was unlikely at the time.

The trial was accompanied by multiple rounds of litigation before both the High Court and Supreme Court. In 2018, Dileep approached the Kerala High Court seeking transfer of investigation to the CBI, claiming bias on the part of the Kerala Police. The High Court rejected the plea, observing that an accused cannot demand selection of the investigating agency. This rejection was later affirmed on appeal. At the insistence of the survivor, the High Court in February 2019 directed that the trial be presided over by a woman judge. Later, in 2020, the survivor again approached the High Court alleging bias and seeking transfer of the case; however, the trial continued before the same court.

In an order passed in 2019, the Supreme Court declined Dileep’s request for access to the memory card containing the assault visuals and also instructed that the trial be completed expeditiously. Subsequent extensions of time were granted, eventually extending completion up to March 31, 2024. After the conclusion of evidence and arguments, the Sessions Court reserved judgment and pronounced the verdict on December 8, bringing closure to a case that had remained at the forefront of public discussion and legal scrutiny for several years.