Kerala actress appeals to President for justice in 2017 rape case

Kochi: A popular Kerala actress, who survived a sexual assault in 2017, has appealed to President Droupadi Murmu for justice after unsuccessful attempts to seek redress from the Kerala High Court and Supreme Court.

The actress has approached the President following an incident in which a memory card containing videos of the assault was accessed, copied, and transferred without authorization while in the court’s custody. Despite confirmation of the unauthorized access and transfer of these incriminating visuals, no action has been taken against those responsible, prompting her to seek higher intervention.

The case involves actor Dileep, who is accused of being involved in the assault and was imprisoned for nearly three months in 2017 before being released on bail. The attack took place when the actress was assaulted in a moving car in Kochi. The prime accused, Pulsar Suni, was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court after spending seven years in custody.

Suni, who had worked as a driver for various film shoots since 2010, was previously employed by actor-turned-CPI(M) MLA Mukesh but was later dismissed. He became known within the Malayalam film industry, making him familiar to many actors. Dileep, the eighth accused in the actor abduction case, was reportedly angered by the victim's alleged involvement in informing his former wife about his relationship with another actor.

The assault occurred on February 17, 2017, when Suni, along with his close friends, abducted and sexually assaulted the actress as she was traveling from a film shoot in Thrissur to Kochi. The leaked footage from the court's custody has driven the actress to seek justice directly from the President.

With IANS inputs