A trial court in Kerala on Monday acquitted Malayalam film actor Dileep in a 2017 case pertaining to the abduction and rape of an actor, The Hindu reported.
Ernakulam Principal Sessions Judge Honey M Varghese acquitted Dileep of all offences after a nearly eight-year trial.
However, the court found six other persons accused in the matter guilty of rape, conspiracy and abduction, among other offences, Live Law reported.
The court will pronounce the punishment on Friday.
On February 17, 2017, six men allegedly kidnapped and sexually abused the actor inside her car for two hours. They had allegedly also filmed the assault to blackmail the woman. Later, the woman was dropped near the home of a film director, who helped her contact the police and register a case.
Dileep was among the 10 persons accused in the case and was alleged to be the mastermind of the assault.
NS Sunil, alias Pulsur Suni, was named the prime accused. He had allegedly been hired by Dileep to commit the crime.
Investigators had found that the alleged abduction and sexual abuse was the result of a alleged conspiracy to intimidate and humiliate the woman, The Indian Express reported.
The others accused in the case were Martin Antony, B Manikandan, VP Vijeesh, H Salim, Pradeep, Charley Thomas, Sanilkumar and Sarath G Nair, The Hindu reported.
Most of the persons accused in the matter, including Pulsur Suni, were charged under sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and gang rape, among others. Sections of the Information Technology Act were also invoked.
Dileep had been booked for criminal conspiracy, intimidation and destruction of evidence.
He spent around 80 days in custody before the Kerala High Court granted him bail in 2017.
In 2018, Dileep sought a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the case, alleging bias by the state police. The High Court dismissed the plea, observing that an accused cannot choose the investigating agency, Live Law reported.
An appeal filed this year was also rejected by a division bench, which noted that the trial was nearing its conclusion.
The resignation of two special prosecutors and appointment of new ones had delayed the hearing. About 100 appeals against several orders of the trial court had also been filed by the prosecution, the accused men and the complainant.
Twenty-eight prosecution witnesses also reportedly turned hostile during the trial.
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