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Malayalam actor Dileep acquitted in gang rape case, six others convicted
A Kerala court on Monday convicted six people but acquitted actor Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress abduction and gang rape case
A Kerala court on Monday convicted six people but acquitted actor Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress abduction and gang rape case that made national headlines, sent shock waves through the Malayalam film industry and prompted far-reaching shifts in state movie bodies.
Ernakulam principal sessions judge Honey M Varghese read out the verdict in a packed courtroom shortly after 11 am, capping a trial that ebbed and flowed over seven years, stunning the state’s public consciousness and precipitating landmark changes in the film industry.
The sentence will be pronounced on Friday.
The trial court found six accused -- Sunil NS, aka ‘Pulsar’ Suni, Martin Antony, B Manikandan, VP Vijeesh, H Salim and Pradeep -- guilty of charges including gang rape, kidnapping, intent to outrage a woman’s modesty, and conspiracy.
At the same time, the prosecution could not gather enough evidence to prove the charge of conspiracy against actor Dileep, who allegedly ordered the assault on the woman actor as part of a personal grudge, the court said. Three other accused -- Charley Thomas, Sanil Kumar and Sarath G Nair -- who were charged with offences including harbouring an accused and destroying evidence were also acquitted.
The full court order is awaited. The state government said it will appeal the verdict.
At around 11.07 am, Dileep was acquitted, with the court finding that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against him.As soon as the announcement was made, some people inside the court broke into celebratory cheers. The first to greet Dileep was Sarath, who was standing next to the actor in the accused dock. The verdict was then read out in Malayalam, and the proceedings concluded by around 11:10 am.
On February 17, 2017, a leading Malayalam actress, while on her way from Thrissur to Kochi, was abducted and sexually assaulted inside a moving car. The assault was also videographed by the six-member gang headed by ‘Pulsar’ Suni. The prosecution argued that the kidnapping and gang rape of the actress was carried out on the instructions of Dileep who allegedly harboured resentment against her for being involved in his break-up and eventual divorce from actress Manju Warrier. Dileep also allegedly suspected that the actress was responsible for informing Warrier about his extramarital affair with Kavya Madhavan, his current wife.
A Suresan, a former special public prosecutor in the case, told reporters that the verdict was disappointing.
“We understand that the court has not been convinced that there is a conspiracy behind the incident. Proving conspiracy is always a challenge,” he said.
Law and justice minister P Rajeev confirmed that the state will approach the high court.
“It is heartening that the crime committed has been proved, but on the question of who was behind the conspiracy, the detailed court order has to come. The prosecution had submitted a detailed 150-page-long argument note in the court, explaining the problems that arose during the trial at each stage and the evidence that was collected. But the verdict has not been fully favourable. I spoke to the chief minister and the state will appeal against the verdict,” Rajeev told reporters.
Dileep launched an attack on his ex-wife and actor Manju Warrier and some police officials.
“The allegations of conspiracy against me started at the point when Manju (Warrier) talked about a criminal conspiracy angle in the case. A senior police officer and some criminal officers planted this conspiracy against me and fabricated a case with the help of the main accused in this case. With the help of some journalists and media organisations, they spread this theory on social media. Today, in court, this fake case has been busted,” the actor told reporters.
“The real conspiracy was against me and to destroy my career and my life,” he added.
Some of his supporters cut a cake and distributed laddus. Dileep had spent 88 days in jail in 2017 before securing bail.
B Raman Pillai, the actor’s advoctae, said the verdict was on expected lines. “From the outset, it was clear that this was a fake case (against Dileep). They (prosecution) had no evidence. Despite the trial going on for seven years, I stuck on because I knew that my client was innocent.”
Deedi Damodaran, a member of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), said the verdict sent the wrong message to sexual assault survivors -- to not to seek legal channels for justice.
“Again and again, they (survivors) will be defeated. We have seen it in the past in cases like the Ice cream parlour case and the rape case against Bishop Franco Mulakkal,” she said.
During the trial, 261 witnesses were examined, of whom 28 turned hostile, and over 1,600 documents were perused. The prosecution and the defence filed dozens of appeals against several trial court decisions in the high court and the Supreme Court, contributing to prolonged delays.
The trial was also rocked by allegations that the memory card, containing the visuals of the sexual assault, was illegally accessed three times while it remained in the possession of the court, raising fears about the safety of key pieces of evidence, especially in sexual assault cases.
The case also precipitated widespread changes in the Malayalam film industry through the formation of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC). Led by notable woman actors like Parvathy Thiruvoth, Revathy, Padmapriya and Rima Kallingal, the WCC’s demand for a thorough examination of the working conditions in the state’s film industry led to the panel headed by retired high court judge K Hema, finding evidence of sustained sexual abuse of women actors and technicians.
The panel’s report, publicised in August 2024, pointed to the presence of an all-male ‘power group’ within the film industry and complaints of harassment and abuse. The panel report also led to multiple women coming out with allegations of sexual abuse against prominent male actors and technicians.
