Kerala court acquits actor Dileep in 2017 actress assault case, six found guilty

A Kerala court on Monday acquitted Malayalam actor Dileep in a case relating to the sexual assault of a South Indian actress in Kochi in 2017.

The court, however, found six others, including prime accused Sunil N S alias Pulsar Suni, who directly committed the crime, guilty.

Apart from Dileep, the court also acquitted three other persons in the case.

The verdict was pronounced by Ernakulam Principal Sessions Judge Honey M Varghese, who had concluded the hearing in the lengthy trial on November 25.

The assault on the actress, who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, after her car was abducted for two hours, had shaken the conscience of Kerala society.

According to the prosecution, several persons forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area.

The ten accused who faced trial are Sunil NS alias Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijesh V P, Salim H, Pradeep, Charly Thomas, actor Dileep (real name P Gopalakrishnan), Sanil Kumar alias Mesthri Sanil, and Sharath.Police arrested the accused soon after the incident and filed the first charge sheet against seven persons in April 2017.

During further investigation, Dileep was arrested on July 10, 2017 after the probe team found that the prime accused, Suni, had allegedly sent a letter to him from jail.Dileep was granted bail on October 3, 2017.