KOCHI: Actor Manju Warrier was on Tuesday re-examined as a witness in the 2017 actor abduction and sexual assault case in which her former husband and actor Dileep is an accused. Manju was the 34th witness in the case.
Manju reached the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court, where the trial of the case is being conducted, around noon. The witness examination procedure — held behind closed doors — continued till evening. The cross-examination of Manju by defence lawyers will be held in the coming days.
Earlier, Manju was examined as a witness in the case in 2021. However, the prosecution wanted to re-examine four witnesses, including Manju, after the police conducted a further investigation based on the revelations by director Balachandrakumar. There were reports that Manju was included for re-examination to identify Dileep’s voice after the investigation team collected his voice clips.
Earlier, Dileep had approached the Supreme Court against the re-examination of witnesses. However, the apex court dismissed his petition stating that it is the discretion of the prosecution whether to re-examine the witnesses as part of the trial.