The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed Malayalam actor Dileep’s plea seeking a copy of a video footage of the attack on an actress, the Hindustan Times reported. Dileep is accused of plotting the attack.
Dileep had moved an application in the court, saying he has a right to examine the authenticity of the video, which has purportedly been shot by a criminal gang.
The court, however, rejected his plea saying there was no guarantee that the video will not be misused to put undue pressure on the complainant. It also said that the woman has every right to protect her privacy. The prosecution and the state government opposed Dileep’s plea, saying the actor was raising unnecessary objections to delay proceedings in the case.
Dileep approached the Kerala High Court after the Angamaly Magistrate Court in Feburuary dismissed his petition seeking visuals of the assault, The News Minute reported. The lower court, however, directed the Special Investigation Team conducting inquiries in the case to hand over CCTV footage that reportedly shows the complainant’s car being driven from Thrissur to Kochi when the alleged attack took place.
On July 23, the Kerala government told the High Court that Dileep was trying to delay proceedings. The government said it was considering the complainant’s plea to constitute a special court headed by a woman judge to hear the case.
Dileep has also sought a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry, claiming that he is being framed.
The actress was allegedly abducted and sexually assaulted by a group of men on February 17, 2017, near Angamaly in Ernakulam. Dileep has been charged with planning the attack and hiring the group that carried it out, according to the police. A man called Pulsar Suni is the main accused in the case, while five others, including Dileep, have been named in the supplementary chargesheet filed by the Special Investigation Team. Dileep’s former wife Manju Warrier and current wife Kavya Madhavan are among the 355 witnesses in the case.
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