Malayalam actor Dileep was acquitted in a high-profile case related to the sexual assault of a South Indian actress in 2017. After his acquittal, he claimed that the case was a conspiracy to destroy his career and image, accusing the police and the media of ruining his reputation. Let’s take a look at the timeline of events leading up to today’s landmark order.
- The incident dates back to February 17, 2017, when several persons forcibly entered the vehicle in which the multilingual actress was traveling. They held her hostage for two hours.
- The Kerala Police arrested the accused shortly after the incident. Two months later, in April, the first charges were brought against seven people.
- Further investigation into the case led to Dileep’s arrest on 10 July 2017, as investigations revealed that prime accused Sunil had allegedly sent him a letter from jail.
- On 3 October 2017, Dileep was granted bail.
- In November 2017, the police filed a supplementary charge sheet against Dileep and 6 others. Five of them became approvers or were later released.
- The assailants recorded the sexual assault, but police were unable to locate the cell phone on which the video was recorded. A memory card presented by the court’s lawyer containing the videos was used as evidence in the case.
- The prosecution alleged that the sexual assault was a revenge plot after the complainant informed Dileep’s first wife Manja Warrier about his illicit relationship.
- During the trial, Dileep filed an application in the Kerala High Court in 2019 seeking a CBI investigation. However, the plea was dismissed.
- In the same year, the Supreme Court issued orders directing the authorities to complete the process within six months.
- However, the proceedings dragged on due to frequent appeals by the accused, the public prosecutor and the complainant to higher courts.
- Although the trial finally began in January 2020, proceedings were halted again due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- In December 2020, the prosecution knocked on the doors of the higher courts, demanding that the trial be transferred to another court after special prosecutor A Suresan resigned.
- On 29 December 2021, when the investigator was due to be heard as the last witness, the prosecution informed the court that new information had emerged and sought further investigation, stalling the trial again.
- Film director B Balachandra Kumar has given a new twist to the case by claiming that Dileep possessed the visual likeness of the victim.
- Another case was filed against Dileep and 5 others, alleging that 6 individuals conspired to harm the investigators.
- After several adjournments, the trial resumed and VN Anilkumar was appointed as Special Public Prosecutor, but he resigned in December 2021, after which V Ajakumar took over.
- In 2022, the complainant claimed that a memory card stored in judicial custody had been tampered with. After an investigative investigation, it was discovered that the memory card had been accessed by a judge and later by district court officials.
- Following the findings of the investigative report, the Supreme Court will issue detailed guidelines for handling sexually explicit evidence in December 2023.
- Several people from the film industry were investigated during the trial.
Shortly after a local court acquitted Dileep after a year-long legal battle, he said, “This was done to destroy my career, image and life in society.” Meanwhile, CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan has assured to provide full justice to the surviving actress and said the government will file an appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court.
