Kochi, March 10 The Kerala High Court on Tuesday sought the response of actor Dileep and nine others in response to an appeal filed by the state government challenging the judgment of the trial court in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case.
The High Court admitted the appeal, in which the state has challenged the acquittal of Dileep and three others in the case, and also sought to increase the punishment awarded to the six people who were sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting the actress.
A bench of justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Jobin Sebastian issued notices to the six people sentenced in the case, as well as the four who were acquitted by the trial court, a government lawyer associated with the case said.
Apart from Dileep, the eighth accused in the case, the trial court had also acquitted three others – Charley Thomas (A7), Sanil Kumar alias Mesthri Sanil (A9) and Sarath (A15).
The trial court had convicted the first six accused in the case – Sunil N S, also known as Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijesh V P, Salim H, and Pradeep.
The appeal claims that the acquittal of Dileep and the others was "wholly illegal and unwarranted, and that it sends the wrong message to society."
It urges the High Court to overturn the acquittal of Dileep and the others and to hold them guilty of the offenses for which the first six accused were convicted and sentenced to 20 years.
It claims that while the trial court rightly found the first six accused in the case guilty of the various offenses charged against them, "it has miserably failed to impose adequate sentences of imprisonment and fine upon them."
The state has urged the High Court to increase the sentence of imprisonment and fine imposed on the first six accused, in respect of the offenses for which they have been found guilty, as deemed fit and proper, "taking into consideration the nature and seriousness of the crime committed by them, the trauma and suffering undergone by the victim, and the fear it created in society."
According to the prosecution, the eighth accused (Dileep) conspired with the first accused (Sunil) and instructed him to sexually assault PW1 (the victim) and to capture her nude visuals, as he harbored enmity and vengeance against her.
Initially, there were 15 accused in the case, of whom three were granted pardon and examined as witnesses, and two others were discharged by the Kerala High Court, while the remaining 10 were on trial in the case.
The 2017 assault on a multi-lingual actress, in which perpetrators forced their way into her moving car on February 17 and held her captive for two hours, deeply shook the conscience of the Kerala society.
The prime accused, Pulsar Suni, sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
Actor Dileep, who was accused of conspiring in the crime, was arrested during the investigation.
However, after a near six-year trial, the court found him not guilty.