2017 actress assault case: Ernakulam court to pronounce judgement on Monday

Kochi: Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese will pronounce the verdict in the 2017 actress assault case on Monday at 11 am. The case involves a total of nine accused, including actor Dileep ( P Gopalakrishnan). He is the eighth accused in the case.

The defence witness examination concluded in April. The case was then posted for further hearing and clarification. 

The alleged crime happened in February 2017 in Angamaly when the survivor was travelling by car from Thrissur to Ernakulam. A vehicle hit the rear side of her car, following a few people, who picked up a fight with the driver and forcefully entered the survivor's car, purportedly to settle the dispute. They drove the car towards Ernakulam along the National Highway. On the way, the actress was allegedly subjected to sexual assault by the first accused, named Pulsar Suni. 

He recorded the act on his mobile phone. The actress was then abandoned in front of the house of a film director, and the accused fled the scene.

Police arrested the accused soon after the incident and filed the first chargesheet against seven persons in April 2017. During further investigation, Dileep was arrested on July 10, 2017, after the probe team found that the prime accused Suni had allegedly sent a letter to him from jail. Dileep was granted bail on October 3, 2017.

In November 2017, police filed a supplementary chargesheet against seven more persons, including Dileep. Although the mobile phone used to record the sexual assault visuals could not be traced, police relied on the memory card containing the videos, which was submitted in the court by a lawyer.

Sunil NS alias Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijeesh VP, Salim H alias Vadival Salim, Pradeep, Charlie Thomas, P Gopalakrishnan alias Dileep, and Sanilkumar alias Mesthiri Sanil are the accused in the case. Vishnu, another accused, turned approver. Two persons to whom Sunil had reportedly handed over mobile phones, were later acquitted. 

The accused have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including:

120B (Criminal conspiracy)

109 (Abetment of offence)

366 (Kidnapping or abducting a woman)

354 (Assault of woman with intention to outrage her modesty)

354B (Use of criminal force with intention to disrobe a woman)

357 (Assault to wrongfully confine a person)

376D (Gang rape)

201 (Causing disappearance of evidence)

212 (Harbouring an offender) read with

34 (Acts done by several persons with common intention)

They have also been charged under provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2008, for the illegal recording and alleged distribution of visuals of the assault.