The female Malayalam actor who was abducted and sexually assaulted in 2017 moved the Kerala High Court, on Monday, opposing actor Dileep’s recent petition that seeks to halt further investigation in the case.
Dileep is the eighth accused and alleged chief conspirator in the five-year-old case. At the end of 2021, some serious allegations were levelled against him by filmmaker Balachandra Kumar, including that Dileep had watched the video of the sexual assault at his house, that the actor knew the first accused Pulsar Suni, and had influenced some of the significant witnesses in the case who turned hostile during the trial.
Based on these allegations, a fresh probe was ordered by the trial court. The court also ordered the crime branch to submit a status report on this investigation by March 1.
Subsequently, Dileep filed a plea seeking to suspend further investigation in the case, arguing that the final report had already been filed in November 2017, with the charges framed in January 2020. He further claimed that the continued investigation was delaying the trial.
Previously, when this petition came up for hearing on February 15, the survivor had requested the court to hear her before passing an order on this matter. Following this, she submitted her statement on Monday.
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In her statement, the survivor noted that the Supreme Court had, in several cases, held that the accused has no say in the matter of investigation or further investigation. Hence, she added, the accused (Dileep) has no right to challenge the proceedings of the trial court.
The survivor further said that it was necessary for her to be added as an additional third respondent in the case in the interest of justice, noting that it would otherwise lead to “irreparable loss and hardship” for her.
For a full timeline of the female actor abduction and assault case, see here.