Nearly eight years after the actress assault attack that rattled Malayalam cinema, the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court on Monday convicted the first six accused in the case, including Pulsar Suni. Actor Dileep (P Gopalakrishnan), listed as the eighth accused, walked free after the court found no evidence to back the conspiracy charge levelled against him.

The incident, which unfolded on a February night in 2017, remains one of the most shocking crimes in Kerala’s recent history. The prosecution said the actor was on her way from Thrissur to Ernakulam when a group of men intercepted her vehicle near Angamaly. After forcing their way in, they allegedly took control of the car and drove along the national highway. It was during this stretch, investigators said, that Pulsar Suni assaulted the actor and recorded the assault on his phone. The attackers later left her outside the home of a film director before escaping.

Police rounded up seven men soon after, concluding that the crime was orchestrated to intimidate the actor and capture visuals that could be used for blackmail. As the probe deepened, a letter recovered from jail and purportedly written by Suni drew attention to actor Dileep, sparking intense media scrutiny.

Dileep consistently maintained that he had no involvement in the conspiracy. He accused sections of the media of twisting facts and sought an investigation into how his name entered the narrative. In July 2017, after a long session of questioning, he was arrested and spent 85 days in custody before obtaining bail.

Over the years, the case moved through multiple courts, with charges formally framed in January 2020. Then, in 2022, the matter took an unexpected turn. Filmmaker Balachandra Kumar released audio clips that he claimed involved Dileep. The recordings hinted at attempts to derail the trial and allegedly spoke of plans to threaten the investigation team. This led to a fresh case against Dileep and five others.

The assault triggered an outpouring of anger across Kerala and within the film fraternity. Women from the industry spoke up, demanding structural reform and accountability. The momentum contributed to the creation of the Hema Committee, tasked with examining the challenges faced by women in Malayalam cinema. The committee’s report, submitted in 2019, later became the basis for High Court directions asking the government to take action.