Actress assault case: Actor Dileep acquitted; Pulsar Suni, five others convicted

Kochi: In a landmark judgment delivered nearly eight years after the incident that sent shockwaves through the Malayalam film industry and Kerala society, the Principal Sessions Court in Ernakulam has pronounced a split verdict in the controversial 2017 Actress Assault Case. On Monday, the court, presided by Judge Honey M Varghese, convicted the first six accused, including the prime suspect Sunilkumar NS alias Pulsar Suni, while acquitting actor P Gopalakrishnan alias Dileep and three others, of all charges. The court held that the prosecution could not prove the conspiracy allegation that Dileep masterminded or facilitated the attack.

​The verdict marks a significant turn in the high-profile case, which centred on allegations that Dileep, who is the eighth accused (A8), was the mastermind who hired a gang to assault the survivor. The court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove the charge of criminal conspiracy under section 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the actor.

Dileep was also cleared of charges related to the destruction of evidence under sections 201 and 204 of the IPC, as well as alleged offences of capturing and publishing sexually explicit material under Sections 66E and 67A of the Information Technology Act. Dileep was acquitted under section 235 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (judgement of acquittal or conviction in a trial). Following the judgment, the court cancelled his bail bond and set him at liberty. 

Along with Dileep, the court also acquitted seventh accused Charlie Thomas (A7) of harbouring an offender, Sanil Kumar (A9) of conspiracy and criminal intimidation, and Sarath G Nair (A15) of causing the disappearance of evidence.

The court found the direct perpetrators of the crime guilty of grave offences. The first accused Pulsar Suni, along with his associates Martin Antony (A2), Manikandan B (A3), Vijeesh VP (A4), Saleem H (A5), and Pradeep (A6), were convicted of gang rape under section 376(D), kidnapping under section 366, wrongful confinement under Section 342, and assault with intent to disrobe under section 354(B) of the IPC. 

They were also found guilty of Criminal Conspiracy under Section 120(B). The court further convicted the accused Martin Antony through Pradeep of Abetment under Section 109 of the IPC.

​Specific additional charges were also proven against the key perpetrators. Pulsar Suni was convicted under Sections 66(E) and 67(A) of the Information Technology Act for capturing and publishing sexually explicit material, a charge stemming from the video recording of the assault. Martin Antony faced an additional conviction under Section 201 of the IPC for causing the disappearance of evidence. However, the court acquitted Pulsar Suni of the separate charge of criminal intimidation (IPC Section 506).

​Observing that the offences were grave, serious in nature, and perpetrated against a woman, the court ruled that the convicts were not entitled to the benevolence of the Probation of Offenders Act, which allows a court to release certain offenders after a warning, or under supervision (probation), instead of sending them to jail. 

The bail bonds of the six convicted men were cancelled, and they were immediately remanded to judicial custody. The court has scheduled a hearing for December 12 to pronounce the punishment for the accused persons. 

​The case dates back to a February night in 2017, an event that deeply rattled the state. A popular Malayalam film actress was travelling near Angamaly when her vehicle was intercepted by a group of men.

​According to investigators, the assailants forced their way into the vehicle and took control of it. For several hours, they sexually assaulted the actor inside the moving car along the National Highway, recording the heinous act on a mobile phone to use for blackmail. The attackers eventually fled after leaving the survivor near the house of a film director.

​While the police quickly arrested the direct attackers, Pulsar Suni and his gang, the case took a dramatic turn months later when Actor Dileep was arrested on allegations of being the "mastermind" behind the crime, accused of paying Pulsar Suni to commit the assault to settle a personal vendetta.