'I was living in darkness for the last five years,' Kerala actor assault case survivor tells HC

The survivor's counsel argued that a fair probe is necessary to unearth the truth.
Malayalam actor Dileep who is a key accused in the actor assault case.(File | A Sanesh, EPS)
Malayalam actor Dileep who is a key accused in the actor assault case.(File | A Sanesh, EPS)

KOCHI: In an emotional plea, the survivor in the 2017 actor abduction and sexual assault case on Wednesday told the High Court that she was living in darkness for the last five years and that she fell into depression for some time after hearing reports that the visuals of the assault were leaked.

"For the last five years, I was living in darkness. This is a society that is not accepting the victims. I was actually in depression after hearing the reports that the visuals were allegedly leaked," submitted TB Mini, counsel for the victim, when the state government's petition seeking three more months time to complete the further probe in the sensational 2017 actor abduction and sexual assault case.

She added that if the visuals are tampered with or leaked, it will affect the survivor's life. "There should be an investigation in the findings of the prosecution regarding the probable leak of visuals. A fair and free investigation is needed to unearth the truth and without conducting this, no final report should be filed by the crime branch," counsel argued.

The Kerala High Court reserved its order on the petition after the completion of the arguments by the survivor, actor Dileep's counsel, and the prosecution. The prosecution approached the court for more time to complete the investigation as the deadline fixed by the court had expired on May 31. The counsel for the victim submitted that if the visuals are tampered with or leaked, it will affect the survivor's life.

Justice Kauser Edappagath who reserved the order earlier in the day declined the plea by the counsel for the survivor that the judge be recused from hearing the petition as he had heard the actor attack cases when he had served as the Ernakulam Additional Sessions Judge. The judge said that he could not recuse from hearing the petition as he had already passed the order granting time on the main petition.

When the petition came up for hearing, Dileep's counsel submitted that the reasons cited for more time were baseless. One of the grounds was that the memory card containing the visuals of the sexual assault had to be sent for examination to the forensic science laboratory as it was accessed by many times and its hash value had been changed. The hash value was found to change in 2020. In fact, the prosecution had not taken any steps during the last two years to get it examined. The police could not investigate the leakage of the contents of the memory card from the custody of the court. The High Court vigilance had already started an inquiry into the issue. Besides, the attempt of the prosecution was to malign the judiciary.

The Director-General of Prosecution submitted that as regards the memory card, that was only one of the grounds seeking more time. The soft copy of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) reports regarding the 6 mobile phones used by Dileep and others contains more than 2 lakh pages and includes 11161 videos, 11238 audio clips, more than two lakh images, and 1597 documents. This also requires time for further verification, he submitted.

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