Kochi, March 10 The Kerala High Court on Tuesday sought the response of Malayalam actor Dileep in an appeal filed by the state government challenging his acquittal in the 2017 actress assault case and seeking enhanced punishment for those convicted.
A division bench of Justices A. K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Jobin Sebastian condoned a 17-day delay in filing the appeal and issued notices to all the accused in the case, directing them to file their responses.
The appeal challenges the December 2025 verdict of the Ernakulam Principal District and Sessions Court, which acquitted Dileep while convicting six others in connection with the sensational abduction and sexual assault of a Malayalam actress in February 2017.
According to the prosecution, the actress was abducted by a group of men in a moving vehicle while travelling to a film shoot location. She was allegedly sexually assaulted, and the crime was filmed by the accused.
The driver of the vehicle, Martin Antony, was arrested the following day, while Sunil N.S., popularly known as "Pulsar Suni", was later arrested and named as the prime accused.
Over the next few weeks, several others were taken into custody in connection with the case.
The state has argued before the High Court that the trial court failed to properly evaluate evidence pointing to a larger criminal conspiracy, and has sought the conviction of Dileep as well as three others who were acquitted -- Charly Thomas, Sanilkumar alias Mesthiri Sanil, and Sarath G. Nair.
The prosecution has also sought enhancement of the sentence awarded to the six convicts -- Pulsar Suni, Antony, B. Manikandan, V.P. Vijeesh, H. Saleem and C. Pradeep -- contending that the punishment imposed was inadequate considering the gravity and societal impact of the crime.
The trial court had found the six guilty of offences including criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement, assault with intent to outrage modesty, kidnapping, assault with intent to disrobe and gang rape under the Indian Penal Code.
They were sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, the minimum punishment prescribed for gang rape, along with concurrent sentences for allied offences.
The court had also directed that Rs 5 lakh from the fine amount be paid to the survivor as compensation.
Meanwhile, some of the convicted persons have also approached the High Court challenging their convictions and seeking suspension of their sentences.
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