The female Malayalam actor who was abducted and sexually assaulted in 2017 has requested to be heard by the Kerala High Court, before it passes judgement on actor Dileep’s plea to suspend further investigation in the case.
Dileep’s advocate Philip T Varghese earlier told Silverscreen India that they had filed this petition seeking to stop further investigation in the assault case as it was holding up the trial.
In his plea, Dileep argued that further probe in the case should not be permitted as the final report had already been filed in November 2017, with the charges framed in January 2020. Further, only one prosecution witness, the investigating officer, was left to be examined, his petition noted.
Even as the trial was ongoing, a fresh probe was launched in the case this year based on filmmaker Balachandra Kumar’s allegations against the actor and his associates.
Dileep wants the High Court to declare this new probe illegal, suspend further investigation in the case, and direct the trial court to resume the trial for the 2017 case. “In the name of further investigation, what is being carried out is a series of vindictive acts by a set of police officers, including very senior officers. They also want to impose a case against the petitioner and all the other male members of his family and people who are closely associated with him,” his counsel argued.
When Dileep’s plea was heard on Tuesday, the survivor submitted an application through Senior Advocate S Sreekumar, stating that she wanted the court to hear her before deciding on the plea. Following this, the hearing was adjourned to Monday, February 21.
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Meanwhile, Dileep also moved the HC on Monday seeking to quash the FIR filed against him in the murder to conspiracy case, which was registered based on Kumar’s allegations. He further requested that the investigation to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), if the case cannot be revoked.
For a full timeline of the female actor abduction and assault case, see here.