Kerala actor abduction, rape case: Videos of crime accessed illegally during trial, says victim

Thiruvananthapuram: The south Indian actress who survived a sexual assault in Kochi in 2017 broke her silence on the judgement of the case on Sunday. Lamenting that her request for fair trial was denied, the actor said that even the memory card containing videos of the sexual assault were illegally accessed.

"After years of pain, tears and emotional struggle, I have come to a painful realisation. Not every citizen in this country is treated equally before the law," the actress said in a social media post.

Actor Dileep's ex-wife actress Manju Warrier also spoke in support of the victim and shared a social media post stating that the conspirators were still at large.

Dileep and three others were recently exonerated from the conspiracy charges in the case, while six were convicted.

The survivor recollected that from 2020 she began to feel that something was not right and she even approached the High Court and the Supreme Court stating that she did not trust the court. But the request to move this case away from the same judge was dismissed.

Screengrab of portion of social media post

Stating that she was grateful that six were convicted, the actress said that her fundamental rights were not protected as the memory card containing the video footage of the crime was illegally accessed. She also said that her request to conduct the proceedings in an open court was also denied.

Manju Warrier said that it was frightening that those who hatched the conspiracy, "whoever it is", were still on the loose.

"The survivor will get justice only once the conspirators were also convicted. It was also necessary to strengthen the society's confidence in the police and criminal justice system," Warrier said.

Meanwhile, the trial court order that convicted six and exonerated Dileep and three others has listed out a series of flaws in the evidence produced to prove the involvement of Dileep in the conspiracy. Hence he was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

The prosecution will be filing an appeal against the verdict after an ongoing review of the verdict.