KOCHI: The survivor in the 2017 actor abduction and sexual assault case on Monday approached the Kerala High Court casting aspersions on the intentions of the state government and the integrity of the trial court judge. She submitted that the eighth accused, actor Dileep, has unlawfully influenced some of the politicians of the ruling front directly and through his sources. She also alleged that the accused attempted to derail the further probe in the case.
She said the state government, which supported her initially and allowed a fair probe, later backtracked from its constitutional commitment to conducting a free, fair and full-fledged investigation. Even though the prosecution approached the High Court with a petition to extend the time limit for the further probe, it is learnt that the prosecution and the investigation agency have been threatened by higher-ups to end the investigation halfway and file the additional final report in a half-cooked manner. “This clearly establishes the illegal nexus between the accused and the ruling front,” she alleged. Dileep’s lawyers interfered with the administration of justice by tampering with evidence and illegally influencing witnesses which is against all ethics and legal norms.
Survivor points fingers at trial court judge, says her act is highly suspicious
Though the investigating agency made attempts to probe the role of the lawyers, it didn’t succeed as the senior counsel and his associates had substantial influence in the government, the survivor said.She said it was learnt that some assurances were secured by them from the political authorities that the further investigation would not reach them.
“So also there is an agenda for the political and administrative higher-ups that no investigation is done in respect of the illegal access, tampering and transmission of the contents of the memory card is conducted due to reasons best known to them,” the survivor said in her petition. She also questioned the integrity of the trial court judge, saying “the act of the presiding officer is highly suspicious.”
The tampering of the memory card may help the accused take undue advantage in the further proceedings. Being the survivor, she has the fundamental right to get a fair trial and justice as well as to know who has illegally accessed the memory card and tampered or transmitted it as it is a violation of her fundamental right to privacy, she said. It is the duty of the court to ascertain how the the memory card was tampered while in the custody of the court and who are the culprits.
“The conduct of the presiding officer in obstructing the investigation in this matter clearly shows that she wants to illegally help the culprits. Her (trial court judge) conducts in this regard if condoned or tolerated will be a disgrace to the judicial system which assures equal protection under the law,” said the survivor.
She said Dileep is a film star and a multimillionaire capable of playing any heinous trick to influence anybody and to do any blackmailing techniques to keep others under his captivity for any illegal purpose as desired by him. She sought a directive to the additional special sessions court, Ernakulam to forward the application submitted by the investigating agency on April 4 along with the memory card to the State Forensic Science Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram. She also sought a directive to the state police chief to conduct an investigation on the change of the hash value of the memory card (Sandisk 8 GB micro SD card seized by K G Babukumar then DySP on February 20, 2017 ) under the supervision of the High Court and take stringent action against the culprits.
What the survivor said
Some assurances secured by lawyers from political authorities that further probe won’t reach them
Tampering of memory card may help the accused take undue advantage in the further proceedings
It is the court’s duty to ascertain how the memory card was tampered while in its custody and who the culprits are
Conduct of presiding officer (judge) in obstructing the investigation in this matter clearly shows that she wants to illegally help the culprits