Malayalam actress assault case: Court to deliver verdict on December 8 after eight-year trial

Malayalam actress assault case: Court to deliver verdict on December 8 after eight-year trial

Eight years after a Malayalam actress was abducted and sexually assaulted inside a moving car, the case is finally nearing its conclusion. The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court has posted the verdict for December 8, marking a critical moment in one of Kerala’s most closely followed criminal trials. Judge Honey M Varghese set the date on Tuesday after years of hearings, appeals, and delays that stretched the case across multiple courts.

The case involves ten accused, including actor Dileep (P Gopalakrishnan), who is listed as the eighth accused. His alleged involvement has kept the case under intense public and industry scrutiny.

The defence witness examination wrapped up in April, after which the matter was posted for further clarification. With the final arguments closed, the court has now moved the case to the judgment stage.

The crime took place in February 2017. The survivor, a well-known actress, was travelling by car from Thrissur to Ernakulam when a group of men intercepted her vehicle at Angamaly. A staged road-rage dispute allowed one of the accused, Pulsar Suni, to enter the car. He then drove towards Ernakulam via the National Highway, where the actress was allegedly assaulted and filmed on a mobile phone. She was later abandoned outside the home of a film director before the accused fled.

Seven people were arrested soon after the incident. Investigators later uncovered what they claimed was a broader conspiracy to abduct, assault, record the act, and use it to blackmail the actress.

Dileep’s name surfaced after Suni’s arrest, leading to widespread media coverage. Dileep denied involvement and accused certain groups of targeting him. He filed a complaint with the State Police Chief seeking an inquiry into how his name entered the case. A letter reportedly written by Suni from prison, addressed to Dileep, added another layer of complication.

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Dileep was taken into custody in July 2017 after hours of questioning in Angamaly. He spent 85 days in jail before securing bail.

The case grew more tangled in 2022 when actor Balachandra Kumar released audio clips that he claimed featured Dileep discussing ways to sabotage the investigation and intimidate officers. This led the Crime Branch to file a fresh FIR against Dileep and five others for alleged conspiracy to harm the investigation team.

The brutality of the 2017 assault triggered a reckoning in the Malayalam film industry. The survivor’s courage pushed forward conversations about workplace abuse, eventually leading to the formation of the Hema Committee in 2017. The committee’s report, made public in 2023 after a High Court directive, exposed systemic issues and recommended action based on its findings.