Dileep Plea Against Further Probe In Actress Assault Case: Kerala High Court Agrees To Hear Victim

The
Kerala
High
Court
on
Monday,
February
21
allowed
the
request
of
the
victim
in
the
2017
actress
assault
case
to
be
made
a
part
of
the
proceedings
in
the
plea
moved
by
actor
Dileep
opposing
the
further
probe
in
the
matter
by
the
police.
The
high
court
also
heard
substantial
arguments,
on
the
behalf
of
the
actor,
during
the
day’s
proceedings
which
remained
inconclusive
and
would
continue
on
Tuesday,
February
22.

During
the
hearing,
held
in
physical
appearance
mode,
senior
advocate
B
Raman
Pillai
—
appearing
for
Dileep
—
told
the
court
that
the
initiation
of
further
probe
within
hours
of
receiving
some
information
from
director
Balachandra
Kumar,
indicates
that
it
was
“stage-managed”.
He
termed
the
further
investigation
as
a
sham
and
an
attempt
to
protract
the
trial
in
the
case.

The
court,
however,
during
the
hearing
asked
why
the
fresh
evidence
cannot
be
investigated.
The
actor’s
lawyers
said
that
the
fresh
probe
was
initiated
without
first
getting
the
permission
of
the
trial
court
which
was
required
as
per
the
law
laid
down
by
the
Supreme
Court.

In
the
plea,
filed
through
advocates
Philip
T
Varghese
and
Thomas
T
Varghese,
the
actor
has
contended
that
further
investigation
in
that
case
was
not
permissible
as
a
final
report
had
been
filed
in
November
2017,
charges
were
framed
in
January
2020
and
only
one
prosecution
witness
—
one
of
the
investigating
officers
—
remained
to
be
examined.
It
has
sought
quashing
of
the
report,
filed
by
the
police
in
the
trial
court,
allegedly
containing
the
statement
of
Kumar
and
further
proceedings
pursuant
to
the
same.

Kumar
had
recently
made
some
startling
revelations
against
Dileep
in
the
actress
assault
case
through
the
media.
He
has
also
claimed
that
there
is
evidence
including
digital
ones
to
prove
that
Dileep
had
influenced
the
witnesses.

The
actor’s
latest
plea
has
also
sought
a
declaration
that
further
probe
being
carried
out
in
that
case
was
illegal
and
a
direction
to
the
trial
court
to
“eschew”
the
same
from
the
record.

The
Case

The
actress-victim,
who
has
worked
in
Tamil,
Telugu
and
Malayalam
films,
was
abducted
and
allegedly
molested
in
her
car
for
two
hours
by
some
persons
who
had
forced
their
way
into
the
vehicle
on
the
night
of
February
17,
2017
and
later
escaped
in
a
busy
area.
The
entire
act
was
filmed
by
those
persons
to
blackmail
the
actress.
There
are
10
accused
in
the
2017
case
and
police
have
arrested
seven.
Dileep
was
arrested
subsequently
and
released
on
bail.

For
women
in
distress
or
facing
harassment,
help
available
in
India
at
the
following
helpline
numbers:

Central
Social
Welfare
Board
–
Police
Helpline:
1091/
1291,
(011)
23317004;
Shakti
Shalini-
women’s
shelter:
(011)
24373736/
24373737;
All
India
Women’s
Conference:
10921/
(011)
23389680;
Joint
Women’s
Programme:
(011)
24619821;
Sakshi-
violence
intervention
center:
(0124)
2562336/
5018873;
Nirmal
Niketan
(011)
27859158;
JAGORI
(011)
26692700;
Nari
Raksha
Samiti:
(011)
23973949;
RAHI
Recovering
and
Healing
from
Incest.
A
support
centre
for
women
survivors
of
child
sexual
abuse:
(011)
26238466/
26224042,
26227647.