Eleven months since the trial in the actor abduction case came to a standstill, the Ernakulam district principal sessions court will resume the witness examination on Thursday. Five-and-half years have passed since the alleged rape took place following which actor Dileep was arrested and jailed for 85 days. Though the Supreme Court in 2019 directed the district sessions court to complete the trial in six months, it continued due to Covid and further investigation. The court has fixed the schedule to examine 39 witnesses as part of the 27-day trial. Here is the timeline of events related to the case.
February 18, 2017: A popular Malayalam actress is abducted and allegedly abused in a moving vehicle on her way from Thrissur to Kochi. The police register a case based on her complaint
February 19, 2017: Martin Antony, who drove the car, and two more accused, Pradeep and Salim, taken into custody
February 23, 2017: Prime accused ‘Pulsar’ Suni aka Sunil Kumar arrested from inside a courtroom in Kochi where he came to surrender. Sixth accused Vijeesh also arrested
June 24, 2017: A letter dated April 12, purportedly written by Suni from Kakkanad district jail to Dileep, surfaces
July 10, 2017: Investigation team arrests Dileep
September 10, 2017 | Members of WCC start a campaign supporting the survivor
October 3, 2017: Kerala High Court grants bail to Dileep
February 7, 2018: Dileep approaches Angamaly judicial first class magistrate to access the visuals of the assault. It was denied
January 30, 2020: The trial in the case commences
October 28, 2020: The survivor approaches High Court seeking trial court judge Honey M Varghese to be changed fearing a biased attitude
November 23, 2020: High Court rejects the petition of the survivor for changing the judge. Special public prosecutor A Suresan quits
January 4, 2021: V N Anilkumar takes charge as special public prosecutor
December 25, 2021: Dileep’s former friend and director Balachandrakumar makes allegations against the actor. He claims Dileep viewed the assault visuals. He also releases several audio clips to substantiate his claims
December 29, 2021: Special public prosecutor V N Anil Kumar quits after his request for re-examining some witnesses was not allowed by the trial court
January 5, 2022: A fresh case registered against Dileep and four others for conspiring to kill police officers who probed the actor abduction and rape case. Crime branch tasked to probe the case
January 10, 2022: Dileep seeks anticipatory bail in the second case registered against him
Feb 7, 2022: High Court grants anticipatory bail to Dileep
July 22, 2022: A supplementary charge sheet against Dileep and Sharath filed for evidence destruction
October 21, 2022: The Supreme Court dismisses the petition of the victim seeking a change of the trial court
October 31, 2022: The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court frames fresh charges against Dileep and his friend Sharath
November 3, 2022: The Ernakulam principal sessions court announces the schedule for witness examination starting November 10
HC issues notice to actor Dileep
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday ordered to issue notice to actor Dileep, the eighth accused in the 2017 actor sexual assault case, through his counsel on a petition filed by the crime branch seeking cancellation of bail, as the notice issued earlier had returned unserved. The prosecution sought to cancel the bail alleging that he had tried to influence some of the witnesses in the case. The petition contended that the special court had rejected its plea without proper examination of the evidence.