Kochi, February 27 – The Kerala government moved the Kerala High Court on Friday, challenging the recent verdict of the Ernakulam Principal District and Sessions Court, which acquitted Malayalam actor Dileep in the 2017 actress abduction and sexual assault case, while convicting six other accused.
In December 2025, Sessions Court Judge Honey M. Varghese acquitted Dileep of all charges but found six men guilty.
The court sentenced them to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, the minimum punishment prescribed under Section 376D (gang rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The verdict drew sharp criticism, with Law Minister P. Rajeev announcing on December 8, the day of the judgment, that the State would challenge the decision and stand with the survivor.
In its appeal, the government has sought the conviction of Dileep and three others who were acquitted – Charlie Thomas, Sanilkumar alias Mesthiri Sanil, and Sarath G. Nair.
The State has also sought enhancement of the sentence awarded to the six convicted persons: Sunil N. S. alias Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, Manikandan B., Vijeesh V. P., Salim H. alias Vadival Salim, and Pradeep.
The survivor was abducted and sexually assaulted in February 2017 while travelling to a film shoot in Kochi.
The assault was filmed inside the moving vehicle. Martin Antony, the driver, was arrested the next day, followed by Pulsar Suni, who was named the first accused, within a week.
Four others were arrested later that month.
In July 2017, Dileep was arrested on allegations of conspiring to orchestrate the assault as an act of revenge.
The trial court, however, found insufficient evidence to convict him. After spending almost three months in jail, he was granted bail.
The six convicted men were found guilty under various IPC provisions, including criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, wrongful confinement, use of force, gang rape, and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act relating to the recording and transmission of sexually explicit material.
Only Pulsar Suni was directly convicted under the IT Act provisions.
Several of the convicts have since approached the High Court seeking suspension of their sentence, setting the stage for a renewed legal battle in one of Kerala’s most closely watched criminal cases.
