KOCHI: The Ernakulam Principal District Sessions Court on Wednesday dismissed the discharge petitions moved by Pratheesh Chacko and Raju Joseph, two lawyers accused in last year’s actor assault case. Dismissing their petitions, the court observed there was prima facie evidence of the petitioners’ involvement in the case and hence they should stand for the trial.
It said the accused were filing petitions one after the other seeking various documents, despite the court providing them with the copies of the documents they had sought. Their act will only delay the proceedings, the court observed.
Raju and his junior lawyer Pratheesh were arraigned in the case after it was found Pulsar Suni, the key accused, had handed over the mobile phone used to capture the assault and the memory card containing the footage to Pratheesh. The lawyers were arraigned for harbouring the offender and destruction of evidence. Meanwhile, the court also directed to hand over the result of the victim’s medical examination result to actor Dileep.
The male chauvinism in Malayalam cinema is showing its ugly face. The Women in Cinema Collective had raised some relevant questions to AMMA. The office-bearers of AMMA are liable to answer those questions. Unfortunately, they have failed to give logical answers.
- Thomas Isaac, Finance Minister
By deciding to reinstate the actor who is an accused in the actor abducting case, AMMA has again proved that it is with him. It was really a shocker to us when we heard about the decision to reinstate the actor, which was not on the agenda of the general body. The argument that no WCC member was present at the meeting will not justify the decision. AMMA did not even think about the survivor. We cannot agree with the stance taken by AMMA. Moreover, we are declaring solidarity with the survivor.
- WCC (Women in Cinema Collective) on Facebook