Two weeks after the survivor in the actor assault case moved the Kerala High Court seeking directions to issue a copy of the investigation report on illegal access of the memory card, the court agreed to her plea. The memory card contained visuals of the attack on her.
The survivor had moved a petition seeking the intervention of the High Court after the Ernakulam District and Sessions court refused to handover a copy of the investigation report on the illegal access of the memory card. She had earlier sought the investigation report from the Ernakulam District and Sessions Court after allegations rose over the illegal access of the memory card.
The memory card was accessed at least thrice, when it was kept in the custody of different courts. The High Court which acknowledged that there has indeed been illegal access, asked the Ernakulam District and Sessions Court, which has been hearing the assault case, to launch an inquiry. Of the three times that the memory card was illegally accessed, the final occurrence was in July 2021, while it was in the custody of the trial court.
While the survivor said that she had the right to know who had illegally accessed the memory card, actor Dileep, the alleged mastermind of the assault, made a plea for the report to be kept sealed and not be handed over to her.
The incidents of illegal access came out when the State Forensic Science Laboratory found out about it last year and gave details of the three times it had happened - January 9 and December 13 of 2018, and July 19, 2021.
Read: Memory card with visuals of Kerala actor's assault was illegally accessed thrice
The attack on the woman actor happened in February 2017, when she was travelling in a car from Thrissur to Kochi. A gang of men, led by Pulsar Suni – who was named the first accused in the case – forced their way into the car while it was in Kochi and assaulted the actor. She filed her complaint the next day and within days, Pulsar Suni was arrested, and is still in jail. Dileep, who was made an accused in July 2017, was detained in jail for nearly three months.