Crucial move in actress assault case; High Court issues notice to Dileep and other acquitted accused

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has issued notices to actor Dileep and other accused who were acquitted in the actress assault case. The notices were sent after the state government filed an appeal in the High Court challenging the trial court’s verdict that cleared Dileep and the other accused. The court has now admitted the appeal to its file. Following this, notices have been sent to the accused. The notices will be served to the acquitted persons through the Station House Officer of Nedumbassery.

In its appeal, the government argued that crucial digital evidence presented by the prosecution was dismissed by the trial court, citing trivial reasons. The state has requested the court to impose the maximum punishment on the convicted accused, including Sunil Kumar, and to cancel the acquittal of the other accused.

The first six accused in the case are Sunil Kumar alias Pulsar Suni (37) from Vengoor in Perumbavoor, Martin Antony (33) from Koratty in Thrissur, B Manikandan (37) from Thammanam in Ernakulam, VP Vijeesh (38) from Kadirur in Thalassery, H Salim alias Vadival Salim (30) from Edappally in Ernakulam, and Pradeep (31) from Thiruvalla. The trial court had acquitted four people, including Dileep, who was the eighth accused in the case. The first six accused were sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 50,000 each. The sentence was delivered by Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court judge Honey M Varghese.

The incident took place on February 17, 2017, when a Malayalam actress was abducted and assaulted inside a moving vehicle in Kochi.