A Kerala court on Monday acquitted Malayalam superstar Dileep and convicted six persons in the 2017 actress assault case that had shaken the state’s conscience and made national headlines.
Interacting with reporters after the verdict pronounced by Ernakulam principal sessions judge Honey M. Varghese, Dileep lashed out at the “criminal” Kerala police and his ex-wife and actress Manju Warrier. He alleged that the police had cooked up a story to implicate him in the case.
Pinning the blame for his trouble on Manju, the 57-year-old actor recalled her statement that there was a criminal conspiracy behind the assault and it should be probed. Manju had made the remark at a solidarity meeting held at Durbar Hall in Kochi in 2017, two days after the alleged assault.
Dileep, who was seen covering his face as he left his home in the morning, emerged from the courtroom 30 minutes later with relief writ large on his face.
“The conspiracy against me began with Manju’s statement. A senior police officer then used the criminal police to frame me. The police then came up with a fabricated story with the help of the other accused. A section of the media was used to propagate that story. But today that story crumbled in the court. The real conspiracy in this case was to frame me, to ruin my career and my life,” he told reporters.
The Meeshamadhavan actor thanked his family, friends and a battery of lawyers, including former attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi. He, however, ignored repeated questions on who he thought was behind the “conspiracy”.
The court declared the six accused — Sunil, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijesh VP, Salim H and Pradeep — guilty and remanded them to judicial custody. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on December 12.
They were charged under sections of the then IPC, including criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement, kidnapping or abducting a woman and criminal force to a woman with an intent to outrage her modesty.
The case dates back to February 17, 2017, when the multilingual south Indian actress was allegedly abducted and sexually assaulted inside a moving car while travelling from her home to Ernakulam. The prosecution claimed that a group of men forcibly entered her vehicle in Angamaly and drove it along the highway while Sunil allegedly assaulted the actress and recorded the act on his mobile. She was then dropped outside a film director’s home.
Kerala law minister P. Rajeev on Monday said the survivor didn’t get complete justice and that the government would file an appeal. “The state government has always stood strongly with the survivor, and that will be continued. So, the government has decided to appeal against the verdict.”
The survivor’s counsel said she would comment on the verdict after going through it in detail. Her friends, including actresses Bhagyalakshmi, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Rima Kallingal and Remya Nambeesan, didn’t hide their disappointment. The Women in Cinema Collective, formed in the wake of the assault to advocate for women’s rights and fair treatment in the film industry, expressed solidarity with the survivor.
The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists and Film Employees Federation of Kerala are planning to reinstate Dileep following his acquittal.
