Kochi: When the court pronounced the final verdict in the actress assault case on Monday, two individuals whose interventions proved crucial during the investigation and trial are no longer alive. The positions taken by these two personalities—PT Thomas, MLA, and film director Balachandra Kumar—were among the most supportive of the survivor.

On the night of February 17, 2017, the actress reached the house of actor-director Lal seeking help. She had been sexually assaulted while travelling from Thrissur to Ernakulam for dubbing work at Lal Media, owned by Lal.

After hearing the details from the survivor, Lal realised the gravity of the situation and immediately informed producer Anto Joseph. Lal contacted Anto because he had facilitated the participation of the then Director General of Police (DGP), Loknath Behera, at a film industry event the previous day.

A major turning point came when Anto decided to inform PT Thomas, the Congress MLA from Thrikkakara and his neighbour, before heading to Lal’s house. Thomas, who quickly grasped the seriousness of the crime, accompanied Anto to meet the survivor in person.

At Lal’s residence, Thomas listened carefully to the survivor and contacted P Vijayan, the then Inspector General (IG) of the Ernakulam Range, and MP Dinesh, the Kochi City Police Commissioner. He urged them to immediately send a senior woman police officer to record her statement.

Following the MLA’s intervention, the case took a decisive turn. Meanwhile, several film personalities contacted the actress—both by phone and in person—attempting to dissuade her from reporting the incident to the police. Thomas reacted strongly to these efforts. “Daughter, I will be with you until my last breath. You must show courage,” he told the survivor.

“If a celebrity like you can be assaulted in a city like Ernakulam at 9.30 pm, imagine the plight of an ordinary woman. I will go to any extent to support your fight,” he added.

During the trial, Thomas remained firm in his testimony despite the defence's challenging questions, strengthening the prosecution’s case.

While the special investigation team had gathered sufficient evidence regarding the assault, it initially struggled to establish the conspiracy behind the crime. This gap was bridged midway through the trial when director Balachandra Kumar came forward with a series of revelations.

Kumar’s disclosures pointed to the involvement of actor and producer Dileep and his associates in the conspiracy. Following this, the court halted the trial and ordered further investigation. The subsequent probe resulted in a fresh charge sheet, which added G Sarath—a businessman from Aluva and a friend of Dileep—as the 13th accused.