Thiruvananthapuram: The survivor in the 2017 actress assault case met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at his official residence, Cliff House, on Tuesday. The meeting lasted about an hour, during which the Chief Minister assured her of the Kerala government’s full support in the case. He reiterated that the state would soon file an appeal in the case.

The government has decided to challenge the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court verdict that acquitted four accused, including actor Dileep, while convicting six others. Ministers P Rajeev, V Sivankutty and Saji Cherian had announced the decision to appeal soon after the judgment was pronounced.

Six accused, including Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijeesh V P, Saleem H and Pradeep, were found guilty. They were sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment. In its December 8 order, the trial court acquitted actor Dileep alias P Gopalakrishnan, Charley Thomas, Sanilkumar alias Mesthiri Sanil, and Sarath G Nair.

In her first public response after the verdict, the survivor strongly criticised the trial court, stating that she did not trust it. In a detailed social media post, she said she had repeatedly expressed her lack of faith in the court and had approached both the Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court seeking a transfer of the case. All such pleas, including requests to change the presiding judge, were dismissed.

The survivor, a prominent multilingual actor, was assaulted on the night of February 17, 2017, when a group of men allegedly forced their way into her vehicle, held her captive for nearly two hours, recorded explicit visuals and fled.