Kochi: The prosecution “miserably” failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Malayalam actor Dileep in the high-profile 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed, citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence.
The full judgment by Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese, released late on Friday, highlighted unsustainable arguments presented by the prosecution.
“The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim,” the court noted.
The court examined in detail the prosecution’s claim that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the allegation that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the victim’s gold ring to clearly disclose her identity was sustainable.
The prosecution contended that Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so the actress’ identity would be unmistakable, and that the video of the ring was meant to convince Dileep of the visuals’ authenticity. However, the court noted this claim was absent in the first charge sheet and introduced only in the second.
A gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police. The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, and that she first mentioned Dileep only on June 3, 2017, without any reference to filming of the ring. The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this earlier.
The court also examined statements from approvers. One claimed Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim’s wedding ring, which was not present at the time. During the trial, the approver changed his version to corroborate the victim’s evidence. Another approver repeated the claim in court but admitted he had not previously mentioned it to investigators.
The court highlighted discrepancies, noting that the second approver even falsely claimed Dileep ordered the crime as the victim’s engagement was over, which contradicted the timeline. It concluded that recording the ring was unnecessary as the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim’s identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive, noting that the first charge sheet claimed accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim intending to capture nude visuals to extort money, with no mention of Dileep’s role. The court rejected claims that the assault was planned on Dileep’s instructions since 2013, citing lack of reliable evidence. It also dismissed allegations that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, as witness statements contradicted the claim.
After considering the controversies following Dileep’s arrest and the evidence presented, the court concluded the case against him was not proven. On December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Meanwhile, six accused, including prime accused Pulsar Suni, were sentenced to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, which occurred on February 17, 2017, involved the accused allegedly forcing their way into her car and holding her under control for two hours. Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with assistance from other convicted individuals, shocking Kerala at the time.
With PTI inputs