After filing a sexual assault case against Malayalam actor Dileep, the victim who was abducted in 2017 and the prosecutors of the case moved the Kerala High Court to transfer the trial to another court. After hearing the plea on Friday, the court said it would hear the matter again on November 2.
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Earlier, the prosecutors had sought a halt in the trial at the Additional Special Sessions Court at Ernakulam in Kerala. They based their decision on the account of alleged derogatory comments against the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP), repeated adjournments, and bias. Reportedly, the SPP has not been attending the court sessions since seeking a transfer of the case.
The survivor, too, had moved the high court after complaining that she was treated with hostility during the trial court hearing of her case. She had alleged that the court remained mute when she was harassed in the name of examination by Dileep’s counsel.
Giving an instance of the mistreatment at the high court on Friday, senior advocate S Sreekumar, who spoke for the survivor, said that although entry was restricted to the courtroom, there were around 20 lawyers present during a trial who were noting her demeanour and asking her to repeat her statements. Asked why the charges of harassment were not brought to the trial court’s attention, the survivor’s counsel said that oral submissions were made when such instances took place. However, the trial court took no action when the submissions were made.