The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the counsel appearing for the Kerala government to get instructions on how many witnesses have been examined so far in the actress assault case in which Malayalam movie actor Dileep is an accused. The court was hearing the bail plea of Pulsar Soni, another accused in the case.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and AG Masih adjourned the bail hearing of accused Pulsar Suni by two weeks.
The top court has from time to time has monitored the progress of the trial. The bench today noted that Pulsar soni has been in jail for nearly seven years. The court asked the Kerala government to placeon record a copy of the deposition of the witnesses in two weeks.
On May 2023, the top court had directed the completeion of trial by July 2023. Later the court extended the deadline to April 2024.
In February, another bench of the Supreme Court had refused to interfere with the examination of witnesses in the ongoing trial before the Court at Ernakulam. This came after the accused in the case, prominent Malayalam actor Dileep, had taken objection to the move made by the prosecution to examine 41 additional witnesses shortly ahead of the January 31 deadline set for the trial. Dileep alleged that it was an attempt by the prosecution to delay the trial.
The issue petains to the 2017 case related to abduction and sexual assault of a Kerala actress.
The case came to light in 2017, when a popular Malayalam woman actor came forward alleging abduction and sexual assault in Kochi. The Kerala police investigation team zeroed-in on actor Dileepa along with 7 others. Following which, the actor was booked on charges of conspiring to carry out the sexual assault.
The survivor actress later identified herself on social media, which shocked the Kerala Film Industry.
Following the uproar, the Kerala government constituted Justice Hema Committee in 2017 to study issues faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. The report was recently published on August 19, 2024.
The 235-page report, has been published after redacting the names of the witnesses as well as the accused. The report notes that the Malayalam film industry is under the clutches of certain male producers, directors and actors, whom a prominent actor referred to as a “mafia”, as they could ban anyone from the industry. The report has revealed glaring details of abuse and assault in the Kerala film industry.
The Kerala High Court has allready asked the Kerala government what it is planning to do about the cognizable offenses mentioned in the Hema Commission report.
