As the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court is set to deliver its verdict in the sensational Kerala actress assault case on Monday, details have emerged during the trial.
The prosecution revealed in the court that attempts had been made to sexually assault the actress earlier on January 3, 2017. The crime was planned to be committed in Goa when she reached there for shooting for a film in which the actress played the female lead.
Pulsar Suni, the first accused in the actress sexual assault case, picked up the actress from the airport. He was the driver for the actress the following days too.
Anticipating that she would travel to Kochi from Goa by road after the shoot, the gang had planned to abduct and rape her during the journey. However, the plan failed as the actress changed her mode of travel.
After the first attempt failed, the assault was carried out on February 17, 2017, the prosecution informed the court .
The rape victim, in a statement in the trial court, stated that Dileep had a grudge against her since 2012 and told many people that she was the one who broke up his marriage with Manju Warrier. During a trip to London in 2012, Dileep asked her why she told Manju about his relationship with Kavya. When the survivor replied that Manju came with proof, Dileep said no one who stood against him has reached anywhere in Malayalam cinema.
Meanwhile, the letter that Pulsar Suni, the first accused, sent to Dileep was out. The letter sent secretly from prison by Pulsar Suni, the first accused in the case, through a fellow inmate, was crucial in linking Dileep to this case. The letter was said to be a clear indication of the friendship and past relationship between the two. Pulsar Suni says in the letter that ‘it is as if my life has ended with me being involved in this case.’ Each piece of evidence that came out later was against Dileep. Following this, on July 10, 2017, a special investigation team arrested Dileep in the case.
There are 10 accused in the case, including actor Dileep. The first accused is Pulsar Suni, a native of Perumbavoor. Dileep is the eighth accused in the case. The actress was sexually assaulted on the evening of February 17, 2017 while she was returning to Ernakulam from Thrissur after a film shoot. She came to Kochi in an SUV arranged by a production company called Lal Creations. Martin, who drove this vehicle, is the second accused in the case.
The case against Dileep is that he gave a quotation for rape due to personal enmity with the actress. The prosecution also states that the reason for his disaffection with the actress is that he informed his wife Manju Warrier about his relationship with Kavya Madhavan.
It has been reported that Dileep sent a message to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on the fifth day after the actress was subjected to sexual assault that he was under severe mental stress and had done nothing wrong. He had also sent messages to top police officers. The prosecution argued that Dileep sent the messages out of fear that the investigation would reach him.
Meanwhile, Pulsar Suni’s lawyer Pratheesh Kurup said he and Dileep know each other. Speaking to a Malayalam news channel on Saturday, Pratheesh Kurup said he has informed the trial court about this. Pulsar Suni has rejected Dileep’s position that he does not know Pulsar Suni.
In this connection, Congress MLA Uma Thomas said the actress assault case that shook the entire Malayalam cinema reached the legal path due to the intervention of her late husband, former Thrikkakara MLA PT Thomas. PT Thomas’s unexpected presence in Kochi on the night of the crime, which would have gone unnoticed, was crucial in the case. She told a Malayalam news channel that Thomas had held on to his values and principles until his death.