Actress Assault Case: Kerala High Court Seeks Sessions Court's Report On Delay In Concluding Trial

The Kerala High Court has called for a status report from the Principle District and Sessions Court in Ernakulam, which is trying the actress assault case since 2018.

The Registrar (District Judiciary) called for the report after a petition was filed by MR Ajayan, journalist and editor at Green Kerala News. Ajayan wrote to the Court alleging delay in concluding the trial.

Prominent Malayalam film actor Dileep is one among the six accused persons in the case. He is accused of hatching the criminal conspiracy behind the abduction and sexual assault of the victim, also an actor, in a moving vehicle in the outskirts of Cochin city in February 2017.

The Kerala Police had arrested Dileep in July 2017 alleging that he was the mastermind of the crime. After 88 days of custody, the High Court had granted him bail.

In November 2019, while rejecting Dileep's plea for a copy of the memory card allegedly containing visuals of the sexual crime, the Supreme Court had ordered that the trial in the case should be completed expeditiously, "preferably within six months", i.e., by January 31, 2023.

Thereafter, the Apex Court had granted extension of time for completion the trial while directing that the proceedings be completed as expeditiously as possible. It had passed the order allowing an extension application filed by the trial judge seeking time till March 31, 2024.