Actress assault: Survivor moves Kerala HC for fresh probe into memory card leak

The survivor in the 2017 actress assault case moved the Kerala High Court seeking a fresh court-monitored investigation into the alleged unauthorised access of the memory card containing visuals of the sexual assault.

Represented by senior Supreme Court advocate Vrinda Grover, the survivor filed the new petition challenging the adequacy of previous inquiry findings

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In her plea, she sought a comprehensive court-monitored SIT probe with forensic experts to investigate the unauthorized copying, transmission, and exposure of the critical visual evidence. The petitioner has also sought for an investigation into the possible copying and transmission of the video recordings of the crime.

The plea also challenges the inquiry report that the District and Sessions Judge prepared following the High Court’s directions. According to the report, the memory card was accessed three times by the Magistrate court, the senior clerk of the Sessions Court and another court clerk.

The survivor contends that the previous fact-finding enquiry conducted by the trial court was not “fair, free, and complete” and failed to fully uncover whether the visuals were leaked or transmitted. She argues that the handling breached her fundamental constitutional rights to privacy, dignity, and justice.

The case refers to the abduction and sexual assault of an actress in a moving vehicle in the outskirts of Cochin city that occurred on February 17, 2017. One of the accused, who was later discharged, also took videos of the assault and copied them onto a memory card, which was produced before the Magistrate Court in Aluva.

The survivor first approached the High Court in 2022 alleging unauthorized access to the memory card.

The High Court then directed the trial court to conduct a fact-finding enquiry. However, after the inquiry report was submitted, the survivor raised objections to the manner in which the investigation was conducted, claiming that the probe by the trial court was not done in a fair and complete manner.

In April 2024, the High Court directed that copies of the statements recorded during the enquiry be furnished to the survivor, while leaving open the question of whether a separate probe by an SIT was required.

The present plea came months after the trial in the sensational case concluded with the acquittal of accused actor Dileep and the conviction of six others by a sessions court.

The appeal by the state government against the same is currently pending before the High Court.