A Kerala court on Monday acquitted Malayalam cinema star Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, in which six people, including the main accused charged with committing the crime, were pronounced guilty.
In a case that made national headlines while sending shockwaves over the top actor's alleged involvement in the matter, three others, including Dileep's close friend Sarath, were also acquitted.
Dileep, whose real name is P Gopalakrishnan, claimed there was a 'real conspiracy' by some police officials and a section of media to implicate him in the case earlier with an eye on destroying his career.
The Left government in Kerala said it would prefer an appeal against the lower court verdict while reiterating its support to the survivor, a multi-lingual female actor who has worked in a number of Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu movies.
Apart from Dileep (57), the eighth accused in the case, the court also acquitted three others -- Charley Thomas (A7), Sanil Kumar alias Mesthri Sanil (A9) and Sarath (A15).
The verdict was pronounced by Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Judge Honey M Varghese, in a tightly packed courtroom here.
Dileep reached the court with his friend Sarath and lawyers.
The courtroom was packed with lawyers and media personnel an hour ahead of the scheduled pronouncement at 11 am.
The proceedings started on time, and the judgment was taken up first.
Judge Honey M Varghese began by substantiating the offences charged in the case and then declared the first six accused--Sunil, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijesh V P, Salim H, and Pradeep, guilty.
"Since the offenses are grave and serious in nature and perpetrated against a woman, accused not entitled to get benevolence of the Probation of Offenders Act. Bail bonds of A1 to A6 are cancelled and remanded to custody," the court ordered.
They were charged under Sections of the then Indian Penal Code and IT Act, including criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement, gang rape, kidnapping or abducting a woman and criminal force to a woman with an intent to outrage her modesty.
Later, after reading out the charges against Dileep, the court found him not guilty.
At around 11.07 am, Dileep was acquitted after the court ruled the prosecution failed to substantiate the charges, including criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement, assault, gang rape, and related IPC offences.
The court also cleared him of charges under the Information Technology Act and for allegedly destroying evidence.
Dileep became emotional, tears welling up his eyes.
The first to greet him was Sarath, who was standing next to him in the accused dock.
The verdict was then read out in Malayalam, and the proceedings concluded by around 11.10 am.
The court remanded the convicted persons to judicial custody and decided to hear on the quantum of sentence on December 12.
Once the court announced the verdict, people rushed towards Dileep to congratulate him.
The crowd disrupted court proceedings, prompting the judge to direct the Assistant Commissioner of Police to control the situation.
Within the next 10 minutes, Dileep exited the courtroom.
As he descended to the ground floor, those gathered outside the court began shouting slogans in his support.
Coming out of the court premises, Dileep alleged there was a 'real conspiracy' to make him an accused in the case.
"It was done to destroy my career, image, and life in society," he told reporters.
Criticising his ex-wife and leading actress Manju Warrier, the Meeshamadhavan actor said the entire conspiracy against him began with her statement that there was a criminal conspiracy behind the assault of the survivor, and that should be probed.
Without naming anyone, he alleged a top woman police officer and a group of 'criminal police' chosen by her to probe the case had acted against him.
Dileep accused them of 'fabricating a false story' against him with the support of the prime accused in the case and his co-inmate in jail.
Those police personnel and a section of media had propagated the false story against him through social media platforms, he further claimed.
"Today, that false narrative, fabricated by the police, was shattered in the court," the actor-producer added.
State Law Minister P Rajeev said the survivor didn't get complete justice through the present verdict and that the government will file an appeal.
Meanwhile, the Malayalam cinema industry, known as Mollywood, was divided over the court verdict.
Some, including director B Unnikrishnan and producer Suresh Kumar, expressed happiness over Dileep's acquittal.
However, many female actors, including Parvathy Thiruvothu and Rima Kallingal, who are close to the survivor, posted social media messages to assure her of continued support.
When Dileep reached his house in Aluva, his family members, including wife Kavya Madhavan and daughter Mahalekshmi, welcomed him with warm hugs.
The 2017 assault on a multi-lingual actress, in which miscreants forced their way into her moving car on February 17 and held her captive for two hours, profoundly shook the conscience of Kerala society.
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