Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and leaders cutting across party lines have come out in support of the survivor in the actress abduction and assault case in which a Kerala court acquitted Malayalam filmstar Dileep on Monday.

Dileep had on Monday alleged that a woman police officer had cooked up a story against him with the support of the prime accused in the case. He had also claimed that he had submitted a complaint to the chief minister.

Rubbishing Dileep’s allegations, Vijayan on Tuesday said the investigators had acted based on the evidence before them.

“Dileep’s allegations against the police are mere assumptions. I didn’t receive any complaint from him about a police conspiracy to implicate him,” Vijayan told reporters in Kannur, where he had gone to vote in the local body polls.

“Dileep is saying all these things now to justify some of his actions. I don’t remember him submitting any representation like that. He himself should clarify it. The investigators had taken the action based on the evidence they received. That cannot be viewed as a conspiracy against anyone. I want to make one thing clear without an iota of doubt that the government has always adopted a stand supporting the survivor. We will continue the same in the future as well,” he added.

After casting his vote at the Cotton Hill Girls Higher Secondary School in Thiruvananthapuram, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor told reporters that he would stand with the survivor.

“The state government’s decision to appeal against the verdict is the most appropriate stand. One should take a stand in favour of justice. It’s not taking one’s side. The survivor might have felt that justice had been denied to her,” Tharoor said.

Malayalam dubbing artiste Bhagyalakshmi on Tuesday said she would resign from
the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) in protest against what she called the organisation’s “rushed move” to reinstate Dileep following his acquittal.

Bhagyalakshmi told reporters that she could not adopt a “double standard” on the case and would stand firmly with the survivor. “The verdict pronounced on Monday is not the final one. I’m studying judgment on what can be done further. Only when the Supreme Court says that Dileep is innocent would I agree. I’ve stepped down from the FEFKA in protest against the association’s decision to reinstate Dileep,” Bhagyalakshmi said.