Court awards 20 years RI to six accused in actor assault case, slaps fine of Rs 50,000

KOCHI: The court has pronounced the quantum of sentence to all the six accused found guilty in the actor assault case. The first six accused have been sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000. The first accused Pulsar Suni has an additional sentence of five years under the IT Act. These sentences will have to be served concurrently. Moreover, the remand period of the accused will be reduced from the sentence.

Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese pronounced the sentence. The verdict was announced after one and a half hours of hearing. The age and family background of the accused were considered. All the accused are below 40 years of age. The court also said that the verdict was given considering this and the family dependent on them.

Pulsar Suni said that he has only an aged mother at home. So, he requested the court to relax his sentence. The second accused Martin broke down in the court. Martin repeated that he has not committed a crime and that he is innocent. He has spent five and a half years in jail for the crime he has not committed. He does not have a single petty case against him and has his aged parents at home. Martin said that he is the sole breadwinner of his family. The third accused Manikandan also said the same thing as what Martin said. He also said that he was not involved in the conspiracy. He said that he has a nine-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son.

The fourth accused Vijeesh told the court that he should be given minimum sentence and that he should be shifted to Kannur jail since his hometown is Thalassery. The fifth accused Salim said that he has done nothing wrong. Salim said that he has a wife and daughter and they have no one else. The sixth accused Pradeep also spoke in this way about his family. Pradeep also broke down in the court.

The prosecution requested life imprisonment to all the accused, including Pulsar Suni. However, the court asked it was Pulsar Suni who abused, then how can the other accused be given the same punishment? Shouldn't the punishment be given according to their participation in the crime? The prosecution argued that everyone was equally a part of the crime.

However, the defence demanded that he serve a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence and that the sentence be reduced. This case is not similar to the Nirbhaya case, so Pulsar Suni's lawyer requested that the sentence be reduced. However, the court clarified that Suni had committed a serious crime. The helplessness of the survivor should be understood. The court also clarified that this is a matter of a woman's dignity. The court also examined Suni's criminal background.

The accused from one to six are N S Sunil Kumar (Pulsar Suni- 37) of Perumbavoor Vengoor Naduvilekedi, Martin Antony (33) of Puthussery House, Koratty, Thrissur, B Manikandan (37) of Manapattiparam, Thammanam, Ernakulam, VP Vijeesh (38) of Mangalassery, Kathiroor, Thalassery, H Salim (Vadiwal Salim- 30) of Pallikkaparam, Edappally, Ernakulam, and Pradeep (31) of Thiruvalla Pazhayanilam. The court had acquitted four of the accused, including the eighth accused, Dileep.

The accused were found guilty of gang rape, criminal conspiracy, outrages upon femininity, wrongful confinement, use of force, and IT Act 66E/67A (making and distributing obscene images). The intimidation charge against Pulsar Suni was dropped. The charge of abetting the crime will remain against the second to sixth accused. The second accused, Martin, was also charged with destruction of evidence for destroying the SIM card.