Malayalam actor Dileep who is accused of masterminding the abduction and sexual assault of an actor, examined the controversial visuals of the sexual assault on Thursday. This is the third time that Dileep is accessing these visuals. As per the Supreme Court order on his plea, Dileep examined the visuals in the presence of an expert and his counsel at the Additional Special Sessions Court in Ernakulam.
In February, 2017, a leading female actor in Kerala was abducted and sexually assaulted in a moving vehicle in Kochi. Dileep, the eighth accused in the case is alleged to have masterminded the assault on the survivor. In November this year, the Supreme Court had rejected Dileep's plea that he should be given a copy of the controversial visuals of the attack on the survivor. The apex court had however allowed Dileep to examine the visuals in the presence of an expert. This was done on Thursday. Five other accused and their advocates examined the visuals separately on Thursday as well.
Following the commencement of the preliminary hearing of the defence earlier this month, six accused had approached the trial court with demand that they should also be given an opportunity to examine the visuals. The trial court then allocated Thursday as the day for it.
A total of 16 people, including four accused persons – Pulsar Suni (A1), Martin Antony (A2), Manikandan B (A3), Vijeesh VP (A4) – examined the visuals on Thursday morning along with their advocates. Sanil Kumar (A9) did not directly examine the visuals, instead only his advocate examined it. An hour long examination was completed by 1.30 pm on Thursday.
Two experts including a forensic expert and investigation officer CI Biju Paulose were present during the examination of visuals.
Meanwhile Dileep came with his counsels and an expert to examine the visuals by around 2.20 pm. The examination lasted for about one and half hours.
While both Dileep and the other accused were examining the visuals, prosecution and the experts brought by the prosecution were also present in the closed chamber in the trial court.
Though Dileep had filed a plea demanding that he should be allowed to examine visuals without the presence of prosecution and their expert, the court hasn't yet considered it. Though Dileep was not present for the court proceedings in the morning, Justice Honey M Varghese said that the accused could examine the visuals only on Thursday, as the trial needs to be completed in six months as per the SC’s direction. Following the direction of Justice Honey M Varghese, Dileep came to court afternoon to examine visuals.
It should also be noted that Dileep has examined the visuals twice in the past.
Dileep was jailed for about eight months in the case back in 2017. Ever since he came out on bail, he has tried several measures to delay the commencement of trial. But the Supreme Court has ordered the completion of the trial in six months.