Actor Dileep, an accused in the female actor abduction and sexual assault case, approached the Kerala High Court on Monday seeking to restrict media coverage of the trial.
Filing a petition against the state’s police chief, the investigating officer and a private television news organisation, Dileep accused the prosecution and the investigation team of creating negative public sentiment against him through a media trial. The petition, filed by advocate Philip T Varghese, mentioned that an in-camera trial was mandated under Section 327 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code for the case and noted that publishing details of it was unlawful.
According to The New Indian Express, the petition said, “They (investigating and prosecuting agencies) have sponsored and resorted to media trials as the same has no accountability and can be easily sponsored especially in a period where fake news and forms of unethical journalism are prevalent and it is easy to choose a suitable media house and use their services to propagate falsehood about the trial of the case.”
The petition also said that publishing the proceedings of the trial is a deliberate act of criminal contempt of court that hinders the administration of justice by prejudicing the trial.
The case so far
A female Malayalam actor was abducted on February 17, 2017, while she was travelling by car from Kochi to Thrissur. She was sexually assaulted and then dropped off. Soon after the incident, the first accused in the case, Pulsar Suni, the driver of the vehicle she was assaulted in, was arrested. In June 2017, Suni said that actor Dileep had conspired in the assault.
On July 20, 2017, Dileep was arrested as the eighth accused and the one who orchestrated the attack. After 85 days in jail, he was granted bail in October 2017.
In a new development in the case, in late December 2021, director Balachandra Kumar, who claims to be a former friend of the actor, alleged that Dileep had watched the video of the sexual assault at his house and added that the actor knew Suni. The filmmaker further alleged that Dileep had influenced some of the significant witnesses in the case, who had turned hostile during the trial.
Based on Kumar’s statements, a fresh probe was launched into the case.
Kumar also released certain audio clips in which Dileep and others can allegedly be heard planning to kill the investigation officers. Following this, on January 9, the Kerala Crime Branch filed a new FIR against Dileep and five others for conspiring to kill the investigators.
A new investigation team has been formed by the Kerala government to probe the case in view of these developments, and the prosecution team has filed requests for re-examination of certain witnesses and the summoning of new ones.
Recommended
On Monday, following an appeal from the prosecution, the Kerala High Court allowed five new witnesses – namely, Nileesha, Kannadasan, Suresh D, Usha and Sathyamoorthy – to be summoned in the case. According to the prosecution, the first four need to be questioned to prove how the mobile phones used by the accused to commit conspiracy were obtained. The HC also allowed the request to obtain the original call detail records of the phones in question.
The court further directed the State to appoint a new Special Public Prosecutor within 10 days to complete the trial soon. Two SPPs in the case have resigned so far.
For a full timeline of the female actor abduction and assault case, see here.