 Summary of this article
- Actor Dileep is the eighth accused in the case.
- The survivor sought a change of judge, pointing to the harrowing experience she had to endure during the trial.
- The prosecution alleges that Dileep hired goons to attack the actress to take revenge for exposing his extramarital relationship to his then-wife, Manju Warrier.
Eight and a half years after the abduction and sexual assault of a Malayalam film actress—a case that shook the industry—the Ernakulam District Sessions Court will pronounce its judgment tomorrow. Over the years, the case has taken several dramatic turns, exposing the industry’s entrenched misogyny, opacity, and the troubling proximity some of its biggest names maintained with individuals with criminal backgrounds.
It also spotlighted the survivor’s extraordinary resolve to pursue justice despite intense bullying, pressure, and hostile conditions. The incident galvanised several prominent women actors to speak openly about the misogyny and mistreatment they routinely faced on and off film sets, eventually leading to the formation ofthe Women in Cinema Collective (WCC)—the first organisation of its kind in the country.
The prolonged trial saw the survivor repeatedly petitioning for a change of judge, alleging distressing and constraining courtroom experiences. Public outrage was primarily directed at actor Dileep, accused of conspiring with hired assailants to carry out the crime. Yet, despite the seriousness of the allegations, many witnesses turned hostile, a turn of events that ultimately benefited Dileep, the eighth accused in the case.
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The Case
On February 17, 2017, a prominent South Indian actress was abducted while travelling from Thrissur to Kochi. Inside the moving vehicle, a group of men sexually assaulted her and recorded the assault on video. The survivor later detailed the two-hour ordeal, breaking a long silence around misogyny, exploitation and the dark undercurrents of the Malayalam film industry.
The driver, Martin Antony, was arrested the very next day. Within a week, police arrested N. S. Sunil, alias Pulsar Suni, who was named the first accused. The investigation took a decisive turn when a letter allegedly written by Suni from jail surfaced. The letter claimed he had been hired to attack the actress and was yet to be paid, bringing popular Malayalam actor Dileep under suspicion.
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BY Outlook News Desk |
