Kochi: Malayalam actor-producer Dileep, acquitted Monday after more than eight years of legal proceedings against him in the 2017 Kerala actor gang rape case, claimed that the real conspiracy was against him.
His former wife, actor Manju Warrier, and the police teamed up with the main accused, and some media outlets, in an attempt to destroy his career and life, he alleged before the media at the courthouse.
“The investigation against me started when Manju (his ex-wife) said there was a criminal conspiracy in this case. A high-ranking police officer and some other officers stood with it. They joined hands with the main accused and some media, cooked up a fake story, and spread it on social media. This story was destroyed in the court today,” Dileep told the assembled media persons.
The case from 17 February 2017 pertains to a woman actor who has appeared in Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu films. She was abducted by the accused while driving from Thrissur to Kochi, followed by the accused taking turns to rape her.
Later, abandoned, she approached the police, and the probe led them to Dileep after learning he held animosity towards her based on his belief that she was behind the breakdown of his first marriage with Warrier.
Dileep, the eighth accused, was suspected of masterminding the gang rape out of personal enmity. The court has convicted the first six accused, including the main accused, Pulsar Suni, of the charges against them. But acquitting Dileep, Judge Honey M. Varghese of Ernakulam district and principal sessions court said, “The prosecution has not been able to prove the charges of conspiracy and kidnapping against the eighth accused.”
On Monday, State Law Minister P. Rajeev said the state will file an appeal against the verdict, as it’s not completely satisfactory. “The state government stood with the survivor from the beginning, and the police and prosecution, too, worked diligently. The crime has been proved, but the conspiracy has not… The prosecution submitted over 1,200 pages of argument notes. But the verdict doesn’t show it. I talked to the CM, and we decided to file an appeal,” Rajeev said, saying the prosecution will soon start the preliminary work.
The first six accused, including Suni Pulsar, the main suspect who recorded the gang rape, were found guilty of all charges. These include conspiracy, abduction, wrongful confinement, sexual assault (gang rape), creating or transmitting obscene material, and other offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.
“Since the offences are grave in nature and perpetrated against a woman, the convicted accused are not entitled to get the benefits of the Probation of Offenders Act,” the judge noted Monday.
“Accused 1 to 6 shall be heard on the question of the sentence to be imposed on them. Their bail bonds are cancelled, and they are remanded to custody.”
The punishment for the convicted will be announced on 12 December.
Also Read: India’s rape crisis isn’t just legal failure. We raise men who don’t know consent, respect
The case & witnesses turning hostile
A former mimicry artist, Dileep gained fame in the Malayalam film industry before moving into production in 2010 and opening his restaurant chain, ‘Dhe Puttu’, with one branch in Bahrain.
He married actor Manju Warrier in 1998, but the couple divorced in 2015.
The woman at the center of the case had informed Manju Warrier about Dileep’s alleged affair with his now-wife, contributing to their divorce. He remarried in 2016.
In 2017, he founded the Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala after a rift with the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA). It was around then that the accusations against him had surfaced.
Dileep was arrested in the gang rape case in July 2017. He remained in custody for three months before being released on bail.
Police arrested Suni Pulsar on 23 February 2017, thereby recovering a memory card containing the footage of the gang rape.
From Suni’s statements, investigators learnt that Dileep had hatched a conspiracy with Pulsar Suni to punish the woman-actor. Around the same time, Suni’s pictures on Dileep’s film sets surfaced in media outlets, hinting at their relationship.
During the course of the trial, however, 28 witnesses, including prominent figures from the Malayalam film industry, including actors Siddique and Bhama, turned hostile.
They earlier told police about Dileep’s strained relationship with the woman at the center of the case, saying she revealed his ‘extra-marital affair’ to his ex-wife. Earlier, they also admitted knowing about her complaint to the AMMA, informing the association of her reduced opportunities in the Malayalam film industry since the rift with Dileep.
Suni was granted bail in September 2024 after serving seven years in custody due to the prolonged trial.
The same year, the high court dismissed a plea filed by the rape survivor, seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigation into unauthorised access to the memory card while he was in court custody.
The trial was completed on 26 November, and the judgment was reserved.
Impact on the Malayalam film industry
The case triggered major structural and cultural shifts in the Malayalam film industry.
Shortly after Dileep’s arrest, several women actors and film technicians extended support to the woman rape survivor, alleging that AMMA was favouring Dileep.
This led to the formation of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), the first by women in the Indian film industry. Members of the WCC met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, seeking government intervention for a fair investigation.
In response to the WCC’s demands, the government constituted the three-member Justice Hema Committee in 2017 to study the working conditions of women in Malayalam cinema.
The committee submitted its report in 2019, but it was made public only in 2024.
The 235-page report stated that the Malayalam film industry is controlled by a power group of 10-15 individuals and highlighted issues, including workplace harassment, lack of grievance redressal systems, and widespread abuses faced by women even before landing their first roles.
Following the report’s release, multiple women spoke out publicly about misconduct by senior industry figures, and the AMMA executive committee resigned. Earlier this year, actor Swetha Menon was elected as AMMA’s president, becoming its first woman chief.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also Read: The DNA dilemma: How Indian courts differ on ordering paternity tests in rape cases